Bits Bucket for May 12, 2015
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
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The biggest worry for bond traders, I would think, is when markets have fully priced in QE, and no bigger bazooka is available to blast markets even higher.
Not sure how to know exactly when this point is reached, though record low and negative sovereign bond yields offer a hint.
Insomnia sucks.
I try to make the best of it.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102669489
PARIS (Reuters) - Economic growth appears to be flagging in the United States and continues to slow in China, while France and Italy are outperforming as the euro zone economy recovers, a monthly OECD measure showed on Tuesday.
rates really Bounced off the bottom in Europe because they really went too low. 0% ? negative ??
If growth is “flagging” why would the FED raise rates?
how i sthe Spring selling season down your way ? very little inventory here and up north absolutely insane prices. Company is HQ in Santa Clara so I get the crazy home price talk from up there from time to time.
Ft dot com
Sell-off hits US government bond market
Robin Wigglesworth, US markets editor
The US government bond market suffered its worst sell-off in more than two months on Monday as contagion from the European bond rout rolled across the Atlantic, pushing US borrowing costs towards their highest closing levels this year.
The US Treasury market has felt the heat from the turmoil in eurozone debt markets in recent weeks, but has generally held up better than most European government bonds, which have suffered a sharp reversal from the quantitative-easing inspired rally earlier this year.
The US resilience evaporated on Monday, as the 10-year Treasury yield shot up by 13 basis points — the most since March 6 — to 2.28 per cent. The 10-year yield touched a 2015 intraday high of 2.31 per cent last week, but Monday’s close was the highest closing level this year. German government bonds suffered further falls, but the benchmark 10-year Bund yield only rose 6bp to 0.6 per cent.
Most analysts and investors have attributed the gyrations to an overdue reversal of stretched and crowded trades, with the turmoil exacerbated by a dearth of liquidity in bond market trading.
“A trickle of selling is turning into a torrent,” said William O’Donnell, head of US rates strategy at RBS. “Bonds have been overbought for some time now . . . The risk is that we now see a very significant correction.”
…
yields will be suppressed so corporations can continue to buyback stock and govts can continue to borrow for nothing. It is that simple.
Don’t worry - the whole world will flock to the safety of US bonds at the next international crisis…
“Flock” being the operative word. The smart money will be buying and holding physical precious metals.
“Sell-off hits US government bond market”
PB, if they are selling, then US government bonds are a hot potato. When this happens over a long period (not a day or a week like I suspect this is), combined with selling stocks, where will the money flow?
Back into Treasurys, once the dust settles…
It could take years. They will have to park that money somewhere. Like it took a few years in the late 70s. Stock prices went down, bonds were a hot potato
and of course gold prices went way up.
Marketwatch dot com
Bond Report
10-year Treasury yield ends session at 7-week high
By Joseph Adinolfi and Ellie Ismailidou
Published: May 4, 2015 4:24 p.m. ET
Yield closes at highest level since March 9
ECONODAY
Treasury yields rose Monday, driving prices lower, as a selloff in German bunds continued to weigh on U.S. debt.
The Treasury market continued to unwind its dominant trade from last year. Yields have moved higher alongside crude oil prices, and the recent uptick in German bund yields threatens to remove a major driver behind the Treasury rally, said Tom Tucci, managing director and head of Treasury trading at CIBC World Markets Corp.
…
Marketwatch dot com
Market Extra
4 reasons why the bond market is going wild
By Ellie Ismailidou
Published: May 12, 2015 2:49 p.m. ET
Will yields remain corralled?
So much for a safe haven.
European and, to a lesser extent, U.S. government bonds have sold off sharply since mid-April, pushing yields higher as investors grapple with a move that’s pushed yields on eurozone debt back to levels seen before the European Central Bank launched its quantitative-easing program earlier this year.
Bonds are now making headlines amid price swings, aggressive bets by big investors, and fears of a possible bubble.
Here’s a look at four factors driving the action in the bond market:
“Fighting four Feds”
Currently, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and China’s central bank are maintaining accommodating monetary policies, with China having announced its third rate cut in six months on Sunday. Aggressive monetary easing, including bond-buying programs by the Fed, the ECB and the Bank of Japan, had pushed government yields to record lows, particularly in the eurozone where about 25% of the market is still trading at negative rates. And the rest of the fixed-income market has followed the government bond market’s lead.
This is what David Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management and one of the most successful hedge-fund managers of recent years, called having to “fight four Feds” at last week’s Sohn Investment Conference.
Not only does this leave investors starving for yield but it also masks the underlying fundamentals of the respective economies, leaving trading activity to be driven primarily by technical factors.
In other words, price action has less to do with views on a bond’s intrinsic value and more to do with anticipating future market activity, said Bonnie Baha, head of DoubleLine Capital’s global developed credit team.
Less yield for more risk
Yields are still quite low. And in the current low-rate environment, investors are forced to take on more risk as they seek often meager yields.
Despite the recent selloff, “bond market valuations remain unattractive” because yields remain too low and credit spreads are still below average, wrote analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report this week.
Morgan Stanley
Bond guru Jeffrey Gundlach, the chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, also advised investors to dump high yield bonds during a private event in New York on May 5. The debt is trading at such high prices that it might prove more rate-sensitive than investors think, and could tank when the Federal Reserve delivers a rate hike.
Meanwhile, high-yield issuance in April was a robust $37.27 billion, which was the second highest tally for the month on record behind the $38.8 billion from April 2014, according to S&P Capital IQ LCD data.
Combined with March’s record $38 billion and the $54 billion priced during February and January combined, volume for the first four months of 2015 was $129 billion, a 13% gain over last year’s pace.
Lack of liquidity
Recurring bouts of heightened and unexplained volatility have ensured that concerns about a lack of bond market liquidity has remained in the spotlight. Read: Mile wide, inch deep: bond market liquidity dries up.
In a demonstration of that volatility, the 10-year German bund (TMBMKDE-10Y, +9.89%) yield has jumped by 60.9 basis points since nearing zero on April 20, trading Tuesday at 0.67%.
A lack of liquidity is another byproduct of the ECB’s bond-buying program, which removes supply from the market. It is also a function of “increased bill demand and growing constraints on dealer balance sheets,” according to a May 8 report by Bank of America analysts.
Bank of America
This in turn has contributed to a rise in volatility for both stocks and bonds, wrote Russ Koesterich, BlackRock’s global chief investment strategist, on May 11. The MOVE Index—a measure of bond market volatility—jumped from 70 to 90, a nearly 30% move in less than two weeks, he said.
Fear of a bubble
Worries about a potential market bubble have also been on the rise, as bonds attract “a number of opportunistic and more speculative type” of investors, including hedge funds, that are buying in hopes of selling at a higher price.
That is also why bonds were a hot topic at the Skybridge Alternatives, or SALT, conference last week, where some hedge-fund managers warned about a possible fixed-income bubble.
Fortress Investment Group’s Michael Novogratz warned that a bond selloff comparable to 1994, when U.S. government bond yields jumped sharply as the Fed began hikes, could be in store if long-dormant inflation pressures begin to emerge.
…
Crushing.Housing.Losses.
US Housing Demand Down 15% YoY
http://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public/Metro/Metro_Turnover_AllHomes.csv
Adult diapers for loanowners!
If you overpaid 250% for a depreciating asset and borrowed a lifetime of earnings, you’d need a box of Depends too.
China’s banks face insolvency if the RE market tanks. Ours won’t be far behind, and the Fed’s already used up all its ammunition.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-11/chinas-banks-obscure-credit-risk-face-insolvency-property-downturn-fitch-says
‘Tis but a flesh wound …
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user92183/imageroot/2015/05/20150511_CNYNPL.jpg
Oil prices are up almost 2% again today. Yawn. Chinese stock market is up about 1% and has almost fully recovered from last week. It must be because the markets see an imminent Chinese crash.
Great analysis of a one-day trend!
Mr. Wrong is just picking up nickels day trading, ignoring the steamroller that has pancaked oil prices by 40%.
Article for all the Big Daddy Government “conservative” hypocrites:
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/nsa/241511-pressure-mounts-as-congress-dives-into-nsa-fight
Sadly, fear and emotional manipulation are all the Republicans have left. They don’t have any ideas to “rally the base” so they had to invent ISIS. And they will crucify Rand Paul to silence him.
An important question to ask, there is a real possibility that Hillary Clinton will be the next president. Do you really want her having the NSA as her own personal army of spies? Because there’s nothing “small government” about that.
And now back to your regularly scheduled Drudge Report links.
“As President of the United States, I will immediately end the NSA’s illegal bulk data collection and domestic spying programs,” said Paul. “I will take my responsibilities seriously and protect the Fourth Amendment rights of all Americans. I believe the overreaching NSA spying program represents the worst of the ‘Washington Machine.’”
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-11/rand-paul-battles-the-patriot-act-and-fellow-senators-who-miss-votes-
Yeah so when President Paul shuts down the NSA the terrorists can use cellphones and e-mail to plot their next attack on US soil. Is that what we want? I’m not comfortable with NSA monitoring but OTOH there hasn’t been a major terror attack in the US for 13+ years so maybe the trade-off of privacy vs security is worth it…
^ and in this post, a statist tries to explain to the escaped slaves that life on the plantation isn’t so bad, that escaped slaves should return to the plantation, and give up trying to help the other slaves escape.
Security vs Freedom is sometimes a difficult choice! Take mortgage slaves for example; security comes in knowing what your options are.
I paid $3 for a little bottle of water in the airport last week.
I don’t see it as being a statist, RTB. It’s really a practical matter, a grey area on a sliding scale.
People overreact to this. I really don’t care if the NSA supercomputers scan thru my cell phone calls or my e-mail because I know my content and my profile won’t pass the filter. No human will listen to me or read my mail. In return i get better security. Fair trade.
If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’re probably not having any fun.
The assertion that one “doesn’t have anything to hide” is a strawman.
It’s no more my business to reach out and touch someone than it is the states business. That’s the fundamental point.
Yeah so when President Paul shuts down the NSA the terrorists can use cellphones and e-mail to plot their next attack on US soil.
How hard could it be to circumvent that simply by talking in code?
I assume that if Al-Abdul, here on a visa from the ME, starts talking in code it’ll trigger a flag. Even if they can’t decode it they can use cell phone triangulation to track movements, if they want.
If he wasn’t such an idiot, he’d change his name.
‘As soon as my article about how NSA computers can now turn phone conversations into searchable text came out on Tuesday, people started asking me: What should I do if I don’t want them doing that to mine? The real solution is end-to-end encryption, preferably of the unbreakable kind. And as luck would have it, you can have exactly that on your mobile phone, for the price of zero dollars and zero cents.’
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/08/keep-nsa-computers-turning-phone-conversations-searchable-text/
TextSecure works nicely.
“I’m not comfortable with NSA monitoring but OTOH there hasn’t been a major terror attack in the US for 13+ years so maybe the trade-off of privacy vs security is worth it…”
And why do you think terror is directed at the U.S.?
And why do you think terror is directed at the U.S.?
As a neo-isolationist I agree we shouldn’t have poked the hornet’s nest to begin with.
Go google America’s first war and the “shores of Tripoli’
Not one american soldier in the whole place. Not one twig to hit the hornet nest.
Go beyond your public education…
Go google America’s first war
If you do that, you’ll find that the first couple of wars after independence were against American Indian tribes.
“As a neo-isolationist I agree we shouldn’t have poked the hornet’s nest to begin with.”
The U.S. use to be admired, but today we are hated the world over. Who is responsible for that attitude shift?
Current GOP presidential frontrunner Marco Rubio pimps the fear:
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/241692-hawk-rubio-shows-claws-on-nsa
No “smaller government” happening here. I’ve met 7 year old kidz who are more brave than this “base” of adult cowards that the ISIS boogeyman has scared into submission. F*ing hypocrites!
An important question to ask, there is a real possibility that Hillary Clinton will be the next president.
With 95% of our electorate being retards, President Hillary Rodham Clinton is a distinct possibility.
Prediction: I post one link on this topic, Dannyboy will reply with ten links
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/05/11/sea-levels-are-rising-at-faster-clip-as-polar-melt-accelerates-new-data-shows/
P.S. warmists gonna warm
Somebody is a-lion:
‘The CIA discovered Osama bin Laden’s location from a Pakistani intelligence official before the American Special Forces raid that killed the al Qaeda leader, NBC News reports.’
‘A Special Forces operator told the network that the government used a cover story to assert that bin Laden’s courier tipped off the CIA in order to protect the identity of the Pakistani official who gave up the information. The military official added that Pakistani intelligence was hiding bin Laden in the country.’
‘The news comes just one day after a controversial report from journalist Seymour Hersh in the London Review of Books alleged that a Pakistani intelligence official gave up bin Laden’s location to the CIA.’
‘But Hersh’s report also asserts the Pakistani intelligence services cooperated with the mission by helping U.S. helicopters enter the country. It also claims that American forces faced no resistance in bin Laden’s compound because the guards were ordered to stand down.’
‘National Security Council spokesman Ned Price forcefully denied the Hersh story Monday morning, specifically focusing on the allegations of coordination between U.S. and Pakistani forces. “There are too many inaccuracies and baseless assertions in this piece to fact check each one,” Price said in a statement. “The notion that the operation that killed Usama Bin Ladin was anything by a unilateral U.S. mission is patently false.”
‘The White House declined a request to comment on the NBC News story.’
Repost from yesterday, summary is GOP hawks meet to give speeches to “rally the base” and try to out-hawk each other. The United States has a military presence in what, 150 countries? 180 countries?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/05/10/south-carolina-was-the-center-of-the-gop-presidential-universe-this-weekend-here-are-the-five-biggest-takeaways/?tid=HP_politics?tid=HP_politics
No “smaller government” or “lower taxes” happening here.
Talk about rallying the base!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-11/how-us-military-paying-nfl-teams-millions-honor-troops-sporting-events
LMAO! And here I thought all along that the NFL teams were “honoring the troops” out of the goodness of their hearts. Holeee Jeeeeebus! It’s all advertising paid for by the taxpayers. Whew. The goobermint doesn’t even have the stones to demand the NFL put on these little side shows at their own expense! No, no, the goobermint PAYS the NFL for it.
Are you surprised? I would say that Armed Forces commercials during NFL games are only outnumbered by beer and pickup truck ads
Apparently the Defense Department sees those events as part of their recruiting efforts. They pay the NFL just like they would pay a magazine that ran one of their advertisements.
No “smaller government” or “lower taxes” happening here.
Just wondering who has controlled the military for the last 7 years?
Oh yeah - the guy who couldn’t close GITMO…
Just wondering who has controlled the military for the last 7 years?
The guys on the other side of the aisle sure haven’t complained have they?
Then again, the dude in the White House is just following orders from the real PTB.
“the guy who couldn’t close GITMO…”
I happen to agree here. Instead, he let pansies like Lindsey Graham get the best of him.
No “smaller government” or “lower taxes” happening here.
A: I got this one, The GOP “do nothing” congress.
More holes in Hersh’s story than swiss cheese, I’m afraid:
http://www.vox.com/2015/5/11/8584473/seymour-hersh-osama-bin-laden
“his allegations are largely supported only by two sources, neither of whom has direct knowledge of what happened, both of whom are retired, and one of whom is anonymous. The story is riven with internal contradictions and inconsistencies. … The story simply does not hold up to scrutiny — and, sadly, is in line with Hersh’s recent turn away from the investigative reporting that made him famous into unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.”
There are more than a few “leaps” in this article:
‘as Carnegie Endowment Syria research Aron Lund points out, because al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri subsequently said the intelligence materials were real, and had quoted from them himself.’
So the US insiders are lying because Number #2 is telling the truth?. And where exactly did that happen? A Starbucks in Pakistan?
Someone’s a lion. Why not just have a little look-see, power to subpena, take a few depositions. You know, like we used to.
Just release the photos. The autopsy. Let’s see if he was shot the way we were told. Surely we could put that to rest real fast.
And don’t worry WPA, nobody is going to remove your hero for lying to us. We’re used to it, and nobody is held accountable in DC for anything. I’d just like to know.
Olive Garden to debut breadstick sandwiches that come with side of endless breadsticks!
http://www.guidelive.com/food-and-drink/2015/05/11/olive-garden-debut-breadstick-sandwiches
*not an Onion news story
I will have a carb sandwich please - need more padding for my stomach. And I will like and endless oversupply of carbs please. I want to be eligible to ride the motorized red cart in Wal mart and take up the whole aisle in the cereal department.
The beauty of capitalism - just don’t eat there. You have so many other choices.
The beauty of socialism - making everyone pay for someone’s poor decisions and telling them they are an innocent victim.
The beauty of capitalism - just don’t eat there. You have so many other choices.
Eating out at any chain restaurant is a poor heath choice and a lousy value. You can have filet mignon at home for less than the price of a hamburger dinner at the chains.
Yet they pack them in, even though most are broke and charge the meals.
I read an interesting comment about all of the cooking shows that are on TV these days. It used to be that people cooked most of their own meals. Now they watch people cook on TV instead.
Patriot Coal files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (today).
Ahhhh… Capitalism
You should try rolling coal sometime. There’s nothing like it when I hit the switch and dump billowing plumes of soot going down the highway.
I just dump my used motor oil in the river for kicks.
Losers gonna lose.
If you didn’t pay a grossly inflated price for a depreciating asset like a house you’d have the cash to pay someone else to change your oil.
Sorry.
I dont trust hacks at Jiffy Lube with my older cars. I have the skills and a good garage. Takes 30 mins and gives me a chance to give the car a review.
You know more than the ASE mechanics at the dealer.
LOL
LOL, Who takes a 64 Chevy truck to the dealer??
Yes, I know much more then them about this truck as well as my 71 Karman Ghia and a 1982 Celica Supra.
Your lack of street smarts is showing if you use the dealer for service. No wonder all your stuff depreciates.
Had you not paid a grossly inflated price for a rapidly depreciating house you wouldn’t have to work on and drive 30 year old jalopies.
I can tell you are not a car guy.
My 64 has had offers for $15k, and each year they get higher.
The Ghia is at about $9k, each yr higher.
Supra, ya cant even find em. If I exported to Japan, I could get $20k for it.
My daily driver is a 325i.
My bet is you lease a F150.
Jalopies.
Appreciation is the name of the game, boy.
Jalopies
LOL about the motorized carts at Walmart loading up on frozen pizzas, ice cream and 2-liter sodas. Obesity as a life style: set a target weight of 400. Retire early on disability. Keep income down to qualify for the O-care subsidy to get your Type 2 pills. Watch daytime TV on the sofa and eat all you want. Life is good ; - )
Watch daytime TV on the sofa and eat all you want. Life is good ; - )
Until your heart explodes.
Make sure to have 3-4 Cokes with it.
I want to be eligible to ride the motorized red cart in Wal mart and take up the whole aisle in the cereal department.
I will take the liberty of enrolling you as one of Comrad Pelosi’s Free Sh*t Army votes-for-entitlements legion.
I joined the “too big too fail” sh*t army. They get millions instead of hundreds.
Meanwhile back in real ville - Darden lays off a few more.
http://nrn.com/hr-training/darden-lays-30-employees
This is a Drudge Report link from the Associated Press titled “Study: Americans Becoming Less Christian, More Secular”. Article notes that self-described atheists, agnostics, or no particular faith have risen to 23 percent of the population. Also that there are 62 million evangelical Christians in USA.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_RELIGION_SURVEY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-12-08-23-24
Bitter sweet. I was ahead of my time I guess. Having been an atheist since 1966 (age 7) and a libertarian since 1979 when the majority were bible thumping socialists.
And now just a bitter old man.
Everyone likes to feel special.
All my Catholic friends are brainwashed Republicans. They like to be led.
That’s funny, because where I live, most of them are liberal democrats!
Not in Orange County, CA. Hard core, brainwashed Republicans who still think “W” was not that bad…. lol!
The only people I know in Orange County are pretentious “progressives” - because it’s stylish.
Better known as empty pocketed snobs who believe their own hollywood BS.
“Having been an atheist since 1966″
Atheists do not promote and defend Sharia Law.
“The growth of “nones” has political significance as well. People with no religion tend to vote Democratic, just as white evangelicals tend to vote Republican. ”
Not quite. The major reason is the Republican Party scared away most of the atheists and agnostics in the late 1970s thanks to Ronald Reagan allowing Jerry Fallwell to latch on.
I voted libertarian mostly until I quit voting after what the RNC did to Ron Paul in 2012. I would never vote for a Democrat. Ever.
He did say “tend to vote”, not “all vote”. I would say that the Democrat demographic tends to be far more atheist than the GOP demographic.
Article notes that self-described atheists, agnostics, or no particular faith have risen to 23 percent of the population. Also that there are 62 million evangelical Christians in USA.
I suspect that the new Atheists have been coming mostly out of mainline Protestant circles.
I suspect the same. Most mainline Prodestant denominations have stagnated into irrelevance and no long preach or teach anything resembling Christ’s message or doctrine.
Wasn’t it Jesus that ran the moneychangers out of the temple with a whip? That was the only time in the Bible where he lost his temper. Now the sheep who call themselves “Christians” are voting for the Republicrat water carriers of those self-same thieves in the temple.
“Americans Becoming Less Christian, More Secular”
They left out the stats on the percentage of Americans bowing to Sharia Law.
‘The way the surveillance story appeared also decreased its potential impact. Those given custody of the documents decided to spread the wealth for a more democratic assessment of the revelations. They distributed them through a wide variety of media — from start-up Web publications to leading foreign newspapers.’
‘One document from the NSA director, for example, indicates that the agency was spying on visits to porn sites by people, making no distinction between foreigners and “U.S. persons,” U.S. citizens or permanent residents. He then recommended using that information to secretly discredit them, whom he labeled as “radicalizers.” But because this was revealed by The Huffington Post, an online publication viewed as progressive, and was never reported by mainstream papers such as the New York Times or the Washington Post, the revelation never received the attention it deserved.’
‘Another major revelation, a top-secret NSA map showing that the agency had planted malware — computer viruses — in more than 50,000 locations around the world, including many friendly countries such as Brazil, was reported in a relatively small Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, and likely never seen by much of the American public.’
‘Thus, despite the volume of revelations, much of the public remains largely unaware of the true extent of the NSA’s vast, highly aggressive and legally questionable surveillance activities. With only a slim majority of Americans expressing concern, the chances of truly reforming the system become greatly decreased.’
‘There are other NSA surveillance programs that may have far greater impact on Americans, but have attracted far less public attention. In my interview with Snowden, for example, he said one of his most shocking discoveries was the NSA’s policy of secretly and routinely passing to Israel’s Unit 8200 — that country’s NSA — and possibly other countries not just metadata but the actual contents of emails involving Americans. This even included the names of U.S. citizens, some of whom were likely Palestinian-Americans communicating with relatives in Israel and Palestine.’
‘An illustration of the dangers posed by such an operation comes from the sudden resignation last year of 43 veterans of Unit 8200, many of whom are still serving in the military reserves. The veterans accused the organization of using intercepted communication against innocent Palestinians for “political persecution.” This included information gathered from the emails about Palestinians’ sexual orientations, infidelities, money problems, family medical conditions and other private matters to coerce people into becoming collaborators or to create divisions in their society.’
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/05/11/if-youre-not-outraged-about-the-nsa-surveillance-heres-why-you-should-be/
It is a good thing the political opponents of Bill Clinton did not have this technology in their time…
I donated money to Rand Paul’s campaign.
He and Bernie Sanders are the only ones who want to stop NSA spying on American citizens. Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Republican hopefuls don’t give a shit about Constitutional rights.
This country is done, stick a fork in it.
I expect that if a rogue candidate who was a lover of honesty, modesty, truthfullness, liberty, and respect for people’s rights and lives everywhere were elected to the White House, the system would erase him/her rather quickly.
In the revolution, we might have to go back to old fashioned communication, like paper and lemon juice.
I expect that if a rogue candidate who was a lover of honesty, modesty, truthfullness, liberty, and respect for people’s rights and lives everywhere were elected to the White House, the system would erase him/her rather quickly.
I fear that as well.
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
H. L. Mencken
I donated money to Rand Paul’s campaign.
You are so going to get audited….
“The veterans accused the organization of using intercepted communication against innocent Palestinians for “political persecution.” This included information gathered from the emails about Palestinians’ sexual orientations, infidelities, money problems, family medical conditions and other private matters to coerce people into becoming collaborators or to create divisions in their society.”
Wow! If only I could get to do this. It sure would make collecting debts a lot easier.
No “smaller government” or “lower taxes” happening here either.
ZIRP!
ZIRP is your friend if you are a member of the club. Not so much a friend if you are not.
Free John Corzine!!!!!!
Are you buying the dip?
What dip? Maybe when there’s a decent correction in the SP500 to the 1900 to 2000 range… about 10% down from these levels.
The dip in bond prices.
sold for $179k in 2008, now on the market for $254k
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9158-Tiburon-Cir-Atascadero-CA-93422/15431781_zpid/?z&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=emo-inferredsearch-image
San Jose, CA Sale Prices Crater 15% YoY; Inventory Skyrockets As Foreclosures Loom
http://www.zillow.com/san-jose-ca-95123/home-values/
“sold for $179k in 2008, now on the market for $254k”
You should snap it up, throw on a coat of latex, and list it for $305K including a sack of squirrel feed.
Today’s news:
A PREMIUM ON LOW-PRICED HOMES
There’s heavy demand for houses at the lower-end of the market, and that means people hunting for those homes are seeing prices rise faster.
Homes valued at $135,000 or less climbed 9 percent in price for the 12 months ending in February, according to data from CoreLogic.
“This is the hottest home price appreciation prior to the spring selling season in nine years,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.
By comparison, homes that priced for $226,800 or more rose 5 percent.
Houses depreciate my friend. They always have, they always will.
Paso Robles, CA List Prices Plunge 14% YoY; Demand At 30 Year Low Statewide
http://www.movoto.com/paso-robles-ca/market-trends/
dont buy anything cause it depreciates!
Housing prices are falling Poet. Data my friend data.
Sammamish, WA Sale Prices Crater 10% YoY; Housing Losses Grow
http://www.zillow.com/sammamish-wa/home-values/
Hey guys,
I just wanted to thank you for the great discussion yesterday about the foreign money pouring into the US.
One of you mentioned/suggested that it was all borrowed money and when the metaphoric chickens come home to roost it would dwarf the Japanese meltdown.
Just wondering what’s the basis for that? Is it all borrowed from the chinese banks or are you referring to money people here borrowed from the Fed(ultimately) to buy chinese goods with?
Cheers,
BR
This explains why Obama is in such a rush to pass the TPP. Wonder how much he stands to make from giving speeches, post-”public service” to the firms that stand to benefit financially from this swindle on American workers and taxpayers.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-12/senate-democrats-defeat-obama-why-president-rushing-fast-track-trans-pacific-partner
why does the GOP approve? No one has read it yet.
Because the GOP has been bought and paid for by the oligarchs who will benefit from this latest “free trade” treaty.
5-11 RED ALERT! Housing Bubble 2.0 at Peak Sphericity; the Kardashians are now house flippers
by Mark Hanson May 12, 2015
Mark Hanson had an excellent post today on this and the general situation….i.e. the pop is imminent
http://mhanson.com/archives/1788
also saw a new listing locally that might be a sign…450 sq. ft, 1800 sq. ft. lot, $419K, works out to about $930/sq. ft when the average locally is about $320 or so.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/11-Harris-St_Petaluma_CA_94952_M12730-00151?row=7
True, he does say that it can pop at any time but he also says:
Still can’t see those pdfs in the right column or the comments.
What happens if we get into a spat with our primary supplier of retail goods? Will they give us back our manufacturing base?
http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-mulls-sending-planes-ships-near-disputed-south-005722236.html
Well this is rich. Obama campaigns as a “progressive” to get the dupes to vote for him, then, once in office, reveals himself to be a dyed-in-the-wool crony capitalist who blasts his naive liberal “constituency” for blocking his “no oligarch left behind” free trade deal. Oh, the irony!
http://observer.com/2015/05/obama-hurls-insults-at-liberals-on-trade/