Bits Bucket for January 6, 2016
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here. Please visit my Youtube channel which you can also find here:
http:tinyurl.com/http-hbb-com
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
November 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
“A Stock-Market Crash of 50%+ Would Not Be a Surprise — Or The Worst-Case Scenario”
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/a-stock-market-crash-of-50-would-not-be-a-surprise-or-the-worst-case-scenario/
The “worst case scenario” is grossly inflated prices. The optimistic bullish silver lining is falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels accelerating the economy like you’ve never seen before.
Dow Futures down -300
————
Thought for the day….
obama, his cronies at the Fed and democrats in general are trying desperately to hold off the inevitable bursting of the dam.
A big stock market bubble and a huge housing bubble need to be timed to burst upon the first day of the Donald Trump presidency.
Things are happening way ahead of the time line…
The PPT will be busy the next 12 months…
“In fact, the events in Cyprus, Greece and more recently Puerto Rico reveal a harsh truth: nearly all the socialist regulatory welfare/warfare states of the West are in reality bankrupt. The only thing holding up the charade is the fact that central banks are able to create nigh unlimited amounts of money from thin air. As soon as a country or a self-governing region no longer enjoys a central bank backstop, it is game over.”
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/revisiting-the-greatest-crash-in-history/
Worst case scenario is Hillary Canklediapers and Alzheimers Bubba. Open borders, neocon wars, crony capitalism and deviancy of all stripes. Fortunately the Lolas are so blind they think some of their people will actually turn out for her.
“deviancy of all stripes” = freedom
The difference between being a libertarian and a progressive is that you don’t get a trophy for wearing women’s panties
Gee, I didn’t realize there was only that one small difference.
I’ll stick a LP.org
“Today I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault. Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard. You have the right to be believed and we’re with you.”
– Hillary Clinton, 14 SEP 2015
And Bill Cosby wonders why he is being prosecuted…
———-
The Clintons are in denial about Bill’s sex scandals
New York Post | January 5, 2016 | Editorial
Even though Donald Trump had already warned that Bill Clinton’s past indiscretions would be “fair game” in the presidential race, the ex-president seemed surprised to face the issue as he began to take a prominent role in his wife’s campaign.
Asked by ABC News if his past should be “fair game,” Bill stammered for several seconds about how “the Republicans have to decide who they want to nominate” before declaring, “I think there’s always attempts to take the election away from the people.”
In other words - no real answer.
At a New Hampshire rally, Hillary dismissed a heckler who asked about previous sexual-assault claims against Bill by saying the questioner was “rude.”
Yet Hillary Clinton has made “women’s issues” central to her campaign. “I can’t think of anything more of an outsider than electing the first woman president,” she has said.
The problem is generational, not ideological.
By the standards of the time the Clintons are paragons of virtue, as they kept the family together despite their issues.
But Trump is right. Leftish women don’t like Hillary. They blame her for not dumping him, more than him for his own conduct.
Based on character issues we really need to look to someone under age 50 — or over age 80.
Generational? This was in the mid 90s. People under 30 don’t vote much and those over are old enough to remember or have heard about it pretty much. This ain’t 90 yr old grandmaw at thanksgiving saying something off color from her youth 70-80 yrs ago.
Leftish women don’t like Hillary ??
LOL….Why, because Trumper said it ?? LOL….
LOL! the gullible sheeple believe everything Trumpy says.
Now lets get started on that 2006 wall again….
One of the “leftish” women that I know specifically doesn’t like Hillary because of her own involvement in Clintonian matters. In her experience, where there is smoke, there is fire, and with all the scandals in the Clinton’s past, she simply doesn’t want Hillary as president.
Put trump on the ticket and she’ll like hillbill just fine.
It is time to wheel out draghi , abe or yellen!
2banana’s Rule:
Long term democrat rule + insane public unions + huge free sh*t army = misery, ruin and bankrupt
And Gawd help you if you own a house or a small business in one of their cities.
——————–
DPS debt payments mount to unsustainable levels
Chad Livengood - Detroit News Lansing Bureau - January 4, 2016
The debt payments of Detroit Public Schools — already the highest of any school district in Michigan — are set to balloon in February to an amount nearly equal to the school district’s payroll and benefits as the city school system teeters on the edge of insolvency.
Detroit Public Schools has to begin making monthly $26 million payments starting in less than a month to chip away at the $121 million borrowed this school year for cash flow purposes and $139.8 million for operating debts incurred in prior years. The city school system’s total debt payments are 74 percent higher from last school year.
The school district’s payroll and health care benefits are projected to cost $26.8 million in February — meaning the debt payments will be 97 percent of payroll. General fund operating debt payments that exceed 10 percent of payroll are “a major warning flag,” municipal bond analyst Matt Fabian said.
As a result, the Detroit district won’t have enough cash to pay any bills in four months.
Financial analysts say the skyrocketing debt payments owed to the state expose an unprecedented amount of money being diverted from classroom instruction to pay off past debts, even as the city school system eliminates 100 central office jobs this month.
The Detroit district’s payments on old debts — some dating back a decade or longer — amount to $3,019 of the $7,296 per student grant the district will receive from the state this school year, a Detroit News analysis of public records shows.
At issue among state lawmakers is how to pay for the Detroit school system’s $515 million in past debts and unpaid vendor and pension bills and about $200 million Snyder has requested for assistance in creating a new debt-free Detroit school district.
To avoid a default, the district has made the debt payments before honoring bills for vendors and employee pensions. DPS owes the state’s school employee pension system $114 million — a bill that’s expected to top $157 million by July.
A Detroit News analysis last year found Detroit had among the state’s highest per-pupil costs for administration in districts with more than 1,000 students.
Ponzi markets and asset bubbles on the verge of imploding, and this time the Fed has already blown its wad. Got popcorn?
http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-fisher-fed-comments-2016-1
right on que:
FEDs fisher wheeled out on cnbc today.
I thought he retired? Is he lobbying for QE4 / NIRP, etc?
Fischer, not Fisher (spelling matters, poet!)
rambling about the markets. just his presence on tv is enough to assure the sheeple.
CNBC is setting people up to FAIL.
who watches CNBC?
Let’s see how all that Keynesian debt-fueled “growth” works out for China. Or us.
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-debt-to-gdp-statistics-2016-1
“housing will always be expensive”
As long as the government is involved and controls it - it will be.
———————-
Housing affordability in 2016: Increasing rents, home prices will drive more people away from O.C.
OC Register | 1/3/2016 | JEFF COLLINS
Xochitl Collazo won’t be spending 2016 in Orange County, her home of three decades.
Instead, the longtime Santa Ana resident plans to move in with a friend in central Arizona, driven away by unaffordable rents and high health insurance premiums.
“It just doesn’t make sense for me to be struggling like that anymore,” said Collazo, 36, who could barely afford her $1,000-a-month rent from what she earned managing a Mission Viejo doctor’s office. “What am I supposed to do? Have no savings? Have nothing? It literally makes no sense.”
Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said that because Orange County is such a sought-after market, housing here “will always be expensive.”
That could put Orange County’s year-end median price for an existing single-family home in the $729,000 to $754,000 range.
2016 might be the year that true price discovery finally asserts itself, which would be calamity for the Fed’s asset bubbles, including housing.
Who is stupid enough to pay over 700 / share for a company that makes burritos?
CMG craters again to 440 range on subpoena and then announces new stock buyback, you just cant make this BS up.
It’s not the $ per share, it’s the $ per restaurant that is the problem.
the price hikes in everything around here are making people cut way back on indulgences. I am now bringing my own lunch to work and that is a $40 per week savings.
And my other cuts since October were well over $2,000 per month!
I reckon most people can make $500 per month savings brown bagging and making home cooked meals.
I am the only one talking about this at work so far. So I cannot say this is a trend. Others are still going out to lunch. My lunches are typically $3.00 and they spend $10.
did u cut out hookers and dope?
He can stay in for lunch and still be out to lunch.
“I reckon most people can make $500 per month savings brown bagging and making home cooked meals.”
I’ve been in this club for decades!
Sum Ting Wong
————
China Impending Real Estate Housing Market Crash
The Market Oracle | 12-30-2015 | Harry Dent
I’ve been looking at how low oil prices will be the first trigger in the next crisis. Although it helps consumers a bit, low prices kill the $1 trillion QE-driven fracking industry that’s been such a stalwart of this bubble economy. And it’s already causing junk bonds to fall further in value, as energy-related bonds have been as high as 20% of that market recently.
But the second and biggest trigger I’ve been warning about is China’s unprecedented real estate bubble collapsing…
Recall the Japanese at the top of their stock and real estate bubble in 1989. They were buying real estate hand-over-fist, from Pebble Beach to Rockefeller Center to London. Then, after bidding them up, they ended up selling those holdings at big losses.
The Chinese make the Japanese look prudent!
Chinese buyers are bidding up the high end of the top coastal cities in English-speaking countries like they’ll never go down and like they can’t get enough.
We’re talking Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland, Singapore, San Francisco, L.A., Vancouver, Toronto, New York, London…
These markets are considered “Teflon-proof.” They’re not! In fact, they’re some of the greatest bubbles that exist today. China’s leading cities – like Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen – are up 700% or more since 2000!
After that first crash, Chinese investors already pulled back on their speculation in markets like New York and London. When you doubt your own economy, you feel less okay about speculating in others. It’ll only get worse when their stock market drops dramatically again.
But broader, look at the steady decline in residential investment in China since 2010. This is the leading indicator of China’s slowdown, which is greatly understated by its government-manipulated statistics. It’s gone from about 34% in 2010, down to near-zero in 2015 year-to-date.
China is going down. The China Beige Book (which is much more accurate) recently showed that, across the board, economic conditions are unraveling.
There will be no soft landing in China. It will bring down the entire world’s unprecedented debt and real estate bubble. And it’s only a matter of time, and likely only a month away at this point.
Now’s the time to get out of real estate… and stocks… and everything but the safest Treasury bonds and AAA corporates. The best buys on these are likely to occur if we get a brief spike in rates into the first half of 2016, as I covered in the November issue of Boom & Bust.
“Teflon-proof.”
First clue this guy is stoopid.
The money quote: “A fraying system of cradle-to-grave benefits keeps Cubans living in a kind of state-administered, socialized poverty, earning high scores on U.N. human development surveys but little for Cuban wallets.”
The liberals/progressives want to keep you poor. But feel good about doing it.
And they expect to be exempted from the same laws and taxes they want for YOU.
——————
A socialist vision fades in Cuba’s biggest housing project
Inequality is growing in Cuba, threatening the legacy of Castro’s revolution
The Washington Post | December 29, 2015 | Nick Miroff
Alamar is the largest public housing project in Cuba, if not one of the largest in the world, with 100,000 residents. In a country sworn to socialist equality, it is arguably Cuba’s most equal place, because everyone pretty much has an identical apartment.
Communist Party elders want to keep a lid on market forces, but with every incremental opening, yawning income gaps emerge. The owner of a small private restaurant can earn hundreds of dollars a day, or more, in a country where three-quarters of the labor force works for the state and the average government salary is $20 a month. Tour guides and hotel chambermaids make more than scientists and doctors.
The idea came at a low point for Castro. In 1970, he had mobilized the entire island in a drive to achieve a sugar harvest of 10 million tons. Students, factory workers and nearly all other able-bodied males were sent out into the sweltering cane fields with machetes.
The whole thing was a disaster. The sugar harvest fell short, shredding Castro’s veneer of invincibility.
The Cuban leader pivoted to a new fixation: Havana’s housing shortage, the product of a 1960s baby boom and the mass migration of Cubans from poor rural areas to the capital.
In an era of right-wing military rule in Latin America, at least one apartment in every building was reserved for foreign revolutionaries and activists who might need a refuge.
Alamar today is becoming a different sort of refuge, a destination for rural migrants from Cuba’s interior who can’t afford to live anywhere else in Havana. Four years after Raúl Castro allowed Cubans to begin buying and selling property, Alamar apartments list for $5,000 to $10,000, a tenth of what they would be worth in parts of the city that attract tourists.
When Olga Mederos moved to Alamar in 1986, there were strict rules. No pets. No exterior alterations. No religious believers. She tried to put some potted plants on her balcony and got a reprimand.
When the Soviet Union folded, Cuba fell on hard times, but Alamar fell harder. The power blackouts were constant. Gasoline shortages meant six-hour lines at the bus stop. Mederos remembers taking her children to the rocky shoreline to cool off and watching neighbors push off on makeshift rafts bound for Florida.
As elsewhere in Cuba, many of those who sacrificed the most for the Castros’ revolution are today struggling to survive. Mederos’s 80-year-old mother, Olga Chang, earns $2 a day selling pastry and candy in the street. Nearly half of her $15 monthly government pension goes back to the state for her small-business license.
“The liberals/progressives want to keep you poor.”
Bankers too. It pisses me off that you left bankers out of such a bold statement.
“But feel good about doing it.”
Yes, very good about doing it.
“And they expect to be exempted from the same laws and taxes they want for YOU.”
Of course. When you own the politicians why should you expect any thing different?
Cubans will be innoculated against collectivism for a generation to come, having experienced the “blessings” of socialism.
87% of welfare voters vote dem
enroll them for life
Only people I know who returned to work on the same day Lola did are school teachers.
That’s disturbing. Lola in an teaching environment with children?
How long before Russia defaults on its foreign debts and kicks off a new global financial crisis?
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/Currency/USDRUB?countrycode=US
Russian government debt is about 20% of American debt as a percentage vof GDP…
Why are GOPtrolls so protective of Putin and Russia?
I smell a rat.
Why are GOPtrolls so protective of Putin and Russia?
I smell a rat.
I smell a liberal.
He stated a statistic. The statistic is true or it’s not true.
Why don’t you look it up to see if it’s true or not? If it’s true, it means that their balance books are better. This is a good thing when it comes to one’s finances, right? Or because it’s Putin and Russia all logic goes out the window? Ah, that’s right! I forget that SJWs don’t understand logic…Instead of logic, it’s partisan hackery.
Russia is in the same position Brazil is in. One gets mocked by the GOPtrolls, one gets defended. The same one that always gets defended by them.
Why?
You didn’t answer my question. I’ll answer yours once you answer mine. While you’re busy answering mine, also tell me what the their debt to GDP is in comparison to Russia and the US.
A good map:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-to-GDP_ratio#/media/File:Government_debt_gdp.jpg
USA: Debt to GDP is at 100%+ (Thank you obama!)
Russia:: Debt to GDP is at 10-20%
Which country would you invest in?
Which country do you think will go bankrupt first?
Liberals - use only math. Feelings don’t count…
Putin’s shirtless pix get trump humpers all hot and bothered. Don’t you dis their pooty poot.
Assuming all other things being equal, Russia looks better. But all other things are not equal. Uncle Buck is strong, while the Ruble is not. Uncle Sam has no trouble selling bonds, Russia has to pay higher interest rates. Russia is hurt by low oil prices, the US is not, etc.
“Why”?
Because Lola pimps brazil and pretends to live there.
It’s that simple. There’s your answer.
Russia is a police state, Brazil is not. Is that not the key difference?
Are some of our GOPtrolls secret totalitarians? Or just funded by them?
And if they’re funded by them, why? Does Putin like the GOP?
Russia is a free nation-state.
Get your facts straight Lola.
Russian exports to China and the 50% drop in the currency vs USD is on par with Brazil. It’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Mission Accomplished, Bernanke & Yellen.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/01/06/global-corporate-debt-is-coming-unglued/
Too late now to go to cash?
Are stock prices finally realigning with commodities and junk bonds?
What kind of drop in stocks would make that true? 40 percent?
yeah more like 75% haircut .
The ability of this market to levitate is quite simply unbelievable.
No.
No its not too late to go to cash.
no doubt dude
There is still liquidity and prices are still up big. U have to have some real brass b@lls to stay fully invested here. If you are close to retirement u have to be insane.
Just wait until the next recession hits. You ain’t seen nothing yet…
who officially makes that call? All the data we are seeing is saying we are in a recession. Do we wait for wall street to unload all its stock on retail and then go short and say “recession”?
If it wasn’t for the 9 trillion in debt we would have never gotten out. Solving a debt problem with more debt doesn’t seem real smart.
All the talking heads keep talking about a 10% return next year. Most of the financial advisers these days just go with the flow. they should be held accountable for losses they cause people.
Anyone can claim to be a financial expert.
Let us know when you get out of debt az. It’s worth it.
All the data we are seeing is saying we are in a recession. Do we wait for wall street to unload all its stock on retail and then go short and say “recession”?
No, growth is still positive.
define recession mighty mite
The conventional definition is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
“who officially makes that call?”
The National Bureau of Economic Research
“All the data we are seeing is saying we are in a recession.”
The last recession started in December 2007 but wasn’t announced until after the 2008 election.
So yes, we could already be in an unannounced recession.
I’m already there…. Burn baby burn!
Marketwatch dot com
Brent slides to 11-year low as Iran official warns of oil’s ‘biggest threat’
By Sara Sjolin
Published: Jan 6, 2016 6:46 a.m. ET
China data point to further economic slowdown
Oil prices continued lower on Wednesday, with the Brent benchmark sliding to an 11-year low on fresh signs of a weakening Chinese economy and escalating tensions in the Middle East, both of which could add to the global glut of crude.
Brent for February delivery (LCOG6, -5.08%) dropped $1.31 , or 3.6%, to $35.11 barrel, setting it on track for its lowest settlement price since the summer of 2004, according to FactSet data.
U.S. crude oil for the same month (CLG6, -4.31%) gave up 85 cents, or 0.8%, to $35.12 a barrel, setting it on track for its lowest close since Dec. 17. The front-runner contract closed above $37 a barrel before the new year, but has been declining in every trading day of 2016.
The fresh drop in oil prices has come as signs emerge of slower economic growth in China and as tensions heighten between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two prominent members of the Organization for the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
“The majority of market participants see the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran as negative for the oil price because they make it unlikely that OPEC will agree on any concerted action to reduce the oversupply,” said analysts at Commerzbank in a note.
The impact of the conflict between the two states “is a political issue that will impact the oil market in the short term”, top Iranian official Mehdi Asali said on Wednesday, according to Dow Jones Newswires. However, he labeled the persistent global oil glut as the “biggest threat” to the market.
…
I’m itching to catch this falling knife in oil. Buy when there is panic and hold.
Any value anywhere else?
Gold has been on a tear the last few days
Sold gold and bought oil today. Eventually there will be a collapse of these states then all bet’s are off.
I might try oil at 20… Looks like it might get there this year
Add this one to 2B’s file….
Merkel has just lost her friggin mind.
http://wwwtheworldandeverythinginit.blogspot.com/2016/01/merkel-on-muslim-attacking-germans-we.html
My God…
But as long as they vote socialist/democrat/liberal - all is good…
——————-
“Merkel on Muslim attacking Germans: We must accept that immigrants are more criminal”
If they voted for the Social Democrats, they would be voting against Merkel.
That’s right, she’s a “Christian Democrat” meaning she’s a member of the “conservative” party in Germany
The biggest criminals of all are Merkel and her Quisling CDU party. Tools of the bankers and globalists even if it means the destruction of their own country and culture.
She’s made the mistake of the century, and keeps doubling down so she doesn’t have to admit it.
No she didn’t
She wants cheep labor for her donors. Poof cheep labor.
She wants to dilute political will of the people. Poof
She wants to increase debt driven GDP. You can guarantee that the handouts these immigrants get are all being spent as opposed to hand outs to banks. Poof.
The movement toward unified global gov continues. Destroy borders and dilute ethnic and political purity. Giving corporations more and more power and the pleebs less and less
The population isn’t going to stand for rapey immigrants. Messing with our womenfolk activates provrams deep in our ancient lizard brains.
The population voted for rapey immigrants when they pulled the lever for Merkel and the CDU. Just like ‘Mericans voted to bend over for Wall Street by pulling the level for Obama, McCain, and Romney.
So rapey immigrants was part of her party platform?
Are you still off your meds?
Russ,
Pull yourself up out of that sewer and quit being a Lola.
But distractions by Colbert provide fodder for the masses - so it’s all good.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2016/01/stephen-colbert-learns-to-cook-indian-food/
Mayor of Cologne Slammed For Telling Women To Keep Rapists at “Arms Length”
Top German broadcaster apologizes for delay in reporting mass molestation by Muslim migrants
Paul Joseph Watson - January 6, 2016 274 Comments
The Mayor of Cologne is coming under increasing pressure after she said that women should follow a “code of conduct” to avoid sexual attacks by Muslim migrants by keeping potential rapists at “arms length”.
The comments were made after a crisis meeting was called in response to a mass molestation of women near Cologne train station on New Years Eve. The perpetrators were Arab and North African migrants, setting off a firestorm of debate about Germany’s open door refugee program.
Mayor Henriette Reker reacted to the incident by asserting that it had nothing to do with Germany’s refugee program despite the fact that a wave of sexual assaults have been reported in and around migrant camps in the country for the past six months.
Reker doubled down on her comments, asserting that women should stay at “arms length” from strangers to prevent being molested.
“There’s always the possibility of keeping a certain distance of more than an arm’s length – that is to say to make sure yourself you don’t look to be too close to people who are not known to you, and to whom you don’t have a trusting relationship,” she told journalists.
Reker also advised women, “stick together in groups, don’t get split up, even if you’re in a party mood.”
This prompted a huge backlash, with Germans flooding Twitter to ridicule the pro-refugee Mayor.
“I have short arms. Will that be a problem for me then in the worst case scenario?” tweeted Birgit Haase.
Others were even harsher, with Julie Zeilinger accusing the Mayor of blaming the victims for being attacked.
Reker also asked Germans to follow this “code of conduct” at Cologne’s upcoming festival so as to avoid confusing migrants “from other cultures”. There was no discussion of the fact that Germany is importing potentially millions of people from a culture and a religion that treats women little better than animals.
Top German broadcaster ZDF also apologized for its delay in reporting the story. Police initially claimed that there were no incidents on New Years Eve, prompting accusations of a cover-up. German police were previously caught covering up details of rapes linked to migrants so as not to “legitimize” critics of mass immigration.
Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to reveal a new “code of conduct” for German women to prevent rapes by Muslim migrants….
Blame the victim for getting raped?
The left’s war in women.
But as long as muslims vote as a block for democratd/socialists/progressives - all is good
“Today I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault. Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard. You have the right to be believed and we’re with you.”
– Hillary Clinton, 14 SEP 2015
“Today I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault. Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard. You have the right to be believed and we’re with you.”
– Hillary Clinton, 14 SEP 2015
————————————————————————-
“Hillary Clinton told a close friend that Monica Lewinsky was a “narcissistic loony toon,”
Documents reveal Hillary Clinton’s private reaction to her husband’s cheating scandal with Monica Lewinsky
Posted by
CNN’s Dan Merica
Updated 4:10 p.m. ET, 2/10/2014
Washington (CNN) – Hillary Clinton told a close friend that Monica Lewinsky was a “narcissistic loony toon,” and also discussed in detail why she decided to forgive her husband for having an affair with the White House intern, according to documents penned by Diane Blair, a close friend and longtime confidant to the former first lady.
The contents of the documents, which are part of Blair’s papers housed at the University of Arkansas, were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website that posted the story late on Sunday night.
CNN has confirmed the documents are authentic and has reached out
Monica Lewinsky was a “narcissistic loony toon,” and her dalliance with Bill was wholly consensual.
Angela Merkel is set to reveal a new “code of conduct” for German women to prevent rapes by Muslim migrants ??
Give every one of them hand held Taser…When he hits the ground after the first jolt, put the second one right on his Nuts…
That made me laugh. Good one.
Equip the frauleins with crowbars to smash these subhumans worthless skulls.. That will afford them two arms lengths.
Do the Republican trolls who post here seem angrier than usual this year? Maybe the prospect of losing a third straight presidential election has them foaming at the mouth in rage.
“What difference – at this point, what difference does it make?”
Everyone seems to be pretty much on an even keel here today, with the usual biases and such. No worries.
Maybe the prospect of losing a third straight presidential election has them foaming at the mouth in rage ??
Why the hell do you think Trump is in the lead ??….All they have is anger and hate left…Its like Mike Tyson…When you know your going to lose, you may as well bite the guys ear off…
From your empty skull, directly to the WhiteHouse, Donald Trump lives rent-free.
Would you vote for Christie over Trump? It might make sense to nominate an electable candidate.
I have no preference. Just stating the obvious.
Trump is the only one with any b@lls to challenge the establishment.
At least he got off the couch.
Trump is the only one with any balls ??
Thats not balls my friend…Thats narcissism…He thinks he is a bad a$$….Chris Christie has “balls”…
All this talk of balls is, well it’s something that is offensive to someone or some group that doesn’t have balls for one reason or another and is being discriminated against by this very conversation.
Trump is the only candidate on either side who has actually made something of himself in the business (aka “real”) world.
Apparently a lot of people are jealous of that.
So Trump is a rich CEO just like Mitt Romney. That’s one more reason to think that 2016 will be like 2008 and 2012.
Unlike Trump Ronney was afraid to call it like it is, MilkyMike. Open borders and executive orders, sharia and hillarrhea.
Well he’s calling things the way that he thinks they are. That will probably more people than it attracts. He also calls out things don’t exist. I saw something today about him claiming that there’s a big problem with people voting multiple times. He probably just made that up.
MilkyMope what about the Benghazi video Hillary made up? Why are you in favor of open borders?
I never said that I was in favor of open borders. You make things up just like your clownish hero.
I suspect that Trump is in the lead because people are in economic pain and they blame the government.
They blame bought and paid for politicians.
They blame failure to enforce immigration laws.
They blame legislation like TARP and Obamacare for padding the pockets of the rich at the expense of everyone else.
They think both parties are in the same gang of thieves.
Stuff like that.
95% of the ‘Murican electorate voted for Oligopoly-owned political prostitutes that epitomize the corrupt, crony capitalist status quo that ‘Muricans are supposedly so upset about. It makes no sense to me.
Anger has been a big part of Republican politics for at least 50 years. It usually increases whenever there is a Democrat in the White House.
“It usually increases whenever there is a Democrat in the White House.”
How as the talking points meeting this morning?
Anger? If only. Where was the anger at having our communications wiretapped, you know, like Bush did and everybody got so upset? The biggest problem in this country is apathy. Just take this apartment bubble Mel Watts is running. Poor people being evicted, can’t find a reasonable place to live and end up spending half their income on rent. While millions of foreclosures are held off the market. And nobody on wall street goes to jail.
Why would anyone get angry about the government doing something like that? I’d say most people are numb to it by now. What pisses me off is that with 300 million people, the best the two party system can come up with is neocons and condo hucksters.
OT
How is your cat?
He made it, but gave me a bit of a scare for a few days.
Jonesy how about a picture of the beast?
Glad to hear that.
I’ll try to post a photo another day. I have paperwork coming out of my ears.
I’ll post a picpaste of our MegaBeast tonite.
The biggest problem in this country is apathy.
Ben, I gotta respectfully disagree. 95% of the electorate are stupid, though admittedly an equal percentage are apathetic. But you can’t fix stupid.
Does one of the liberal trolls who posts here seem angrier than usual about Trump and the fact that he has such wide support?
Will this be the year he finally takes the plank out of his eye?
My thoughts exactly. They are secretly scared to death of Trump. He gets more non-paid, non-bussed-in, regular American citizens to show up at his campaign rallies than several of the other candidates grouped together.
Are you referring to the Professor? From what he’s written, it’s the anti-Muslim rhetoric that bothers him about Trump.
His wife or significant other causes him to be blind to anyone criticizing the part of the religion that kills homosexuals and degrades women to 3rd class citizens.
Can you post a link to support your point so we can be sure you aren’t making stuff up again?
Vague references and political labeling are two of Michael Viking’s fortes.
2 fruit seems a little wound up… Depends must be chafing.
Another day, another five percent drop in crude oil prices (yawn)…
markets tend to overshoot. BTFD!
What do you know about ETN’s?
Debt is a lead parachute donkey.
u r simply a breath of fresh air as usual. anything of value to add today?
Do u want to talk about missing the boat again? How you got scr@wed over?
Data Poet data!
Grapevine, TX Housing Prices Crater 11% YoY
http://www.movoto.com/grapevine-tx/market-trends/
How you got scr@wed over?
Screwed over is grabbing falling knives with borrowed money.
Having no debts and a cost of living below passive income is like utopia.
You’ll learn the difference if you ever dig out of the $hit house hole Poet.
do I have to listen to you whine for another 10 years about how u missed the boat again?
Probably. I own the boat.
“do I have to listen to you whine”
Get off the cross, we need the wood.
Whining is how the modern conservative is identified. The more courageous among them load up, occupy bird sanctuaries, and whine there.
Relax Russ….. lose the anger. Prices are falling and thats a beautiful thing.
“Whining is how the modern conservative is identified. The more courageous among them load up, occupy bird sanctuaries, and whine there.”
Do you talk like that to peoples faces?
Of course not, you’d be bit#h slapped right out of the ladies room whether you had your dress on or not.
Russ prefers to be E-bitch slapped.
In real life, they become embarrassed and shut up long before I get them as angry as you are now.
So let me get this straight.
In real life, when you put on a dress and walk into the ladies room they become embarrassed and shut up.
That is amazing.
Awww ….you can’t threaten me physically, so you made a funny. Precious!
The classes are not paying off.
Central Scrotumizer? I thought we only had one proud selfish miser here.
“Trump is punking Bubba”
Canklepants
Speaking of Bubba, a lady friend of mine sent me this joke today:
Marketing Explained
One buzz word in today’s business world is MARKETING. However, people often ask for a simple explanation of “Marketing.” Well, here it is:
You’re a woman and you see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and say, “I’m fantastic in bed.”
That’s Direct Marketing.
You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One of your friends goes up to him and, pointing at you, says, “She’s
fantastic in bed.”
That’s Advertising.
You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get his
telephone number. The next day you call and say, “Hi, I’m fantastic
in bed.”
That’s Telemarketing.
You see a guy at a party; you straighten your dress. You walk up to
him and pour him a drink. You say, “May I?” and reach up to
straighten his tie, brushing your breast lightly against his arm, and
then say, “By the way, I’m fantastic in bed.”
That’s Public Relations.
You’re at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to you and
says, “I hear you’re fantastic in bed.”
That’s Brand Recognition.
You’re at a party and see a handsome guy. He fancies you, but you
talk him into going home with your friend.
That’s a Sales Rep.
Your friend can’t satisfy him so he calls you.
That’s Tech Support.
You’re on your way to a party when you realize that there could be
handsome men in all these houses you’re passing, so you climb onto the roof of one situated towards the center and shout at the top of your lungs, “I’m fantastic in bed!”
That’s Facebook.
You are at a party; this attractive older man walks up to you and
grabs your ass.
That’s former President Bill Clinton.
You like it, but twenty years later your attorney decides you were
offended and you are awarded a settlement.
That’s America!
You get a vase thrown at your head when you get home. That’s Hillary.
You take the walk of shame to your car out in front of the guy’s house the next morning and a Rolls Royce pulls up, the window rolls down and someone asks “Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?” That’s Trump.
You hang out with underage girls pimped out by uber-bankster Jeffrey Epstein on his private island, along with a who’s who of the corrupt oligarch elite. That’s Bill Clinton.
Trump’s entire campaign is based on the questionable assumption that a critical mass of angry white males will put him over the top.
I will be surprised if he doesn’t accidentally help Hillary Clinton get elected.
Is this year’s start on Wall Street the worst ever?
The Guardian
Global economy
World Bank issues ‘perfect storm’ warning for 2016
Simultaneous slowdown in Brics economies would jeopardise chances of pick-up in global growth this year, report says
Russia’s Vladimir Putin (L), India’s Narendra Modi (3rd L), Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff (4th L), China’s Xi Jinping (6th L) and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma (R) at a Brics summit last year.
Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
Larry Elliott
Wednesday 6 January 2016 15.04 EST
Last modified on Wednesday 6 January 2016 18.30 EST
The risk of the global economy being battered by a “perfect storm” in 2016 has been highlighted by the World Bank in a flagship report that warns that a synchronised slowdown in the biggest emerging markets could be intensified by a fresh bout of financial turmoil.
The Bank said the possibility that Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the so-called Brics economies – could all face problems simultaneously would put in jeopardy the chances of a pick-up in growth in the coming year.
It added that the impact would be heightened by severe financial market stress of the sort triggered in 2013 by the announcement by the Federal Reserve that it was considering reducing the stimulus it was then providing to the US economy.
Launching its annual Global Economic Prospects, the Bank said activity in 2015 had failed to live up to its expectations – the fifth year in a row that growth has undershot the forecasts made by the Washington-based institution, which lends to the world’s poorest countries.
…
“Downside risks dominate and have become increasingly centred on emerging and developing countries,” it said.
…
Global Stocks Tumble to Worst Start Since 2000 on China Concerns
Jeremy Herron and Dani Burger
January 5, 2016 — 3:02 PM PST
Updated on January 6, 2016 — 2:10 PM PST
China Halts Stock Trading After 7% Rout Triggers Circuit Breaker
Global equities capped their worst start to a year since 2000, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding more than 250 points, as China unexpectedly weakening its currency fueled fresh concern over the strength of the world economy. Bonds gained.
The MSCI All-Country World Index ended the first three days of 2016 down by 3.3 percent, as U.S. stocks fell to a three-month low and emerging-market shares dropped to their cheapest level since 2009. Brent crude plunged to its lowest point since 2004, while U.S. oil spiked below $34 a barrel as supplies at a hub rose to a record. The dollar pared gains after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting were released. Treasuries jumped, with yields on 10-year notes dropping seven basis points to 2.17 percent.
“This is risk aversion right now,” Benjamin Dunn, president of Alpha Theory Advisors, which works with hedge funds overseeing about $6 billion. “This is like a replay of the same things that moved the markets in August. We’re perhaps getting confirmation that China is as bad as people think. We’ve lost the tailwinds from the Fed and investor enthusiasm and this adds to the mosaic of fear that’s out there right now.”
…
“The best way to take control over a people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, the people will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed.”
― Adolf Hitler
Freedom and population density are inversely proportional. Freedom is under attack from the quiver full loons one side and the open border loons on the other
Freedom to use whatever restroom you want regardless of your junk?
A spooky snippet from Gordon Long’s article, FRA Predicts Massive Tax Grab Coming in 2016 at All Levels of Government
“To put all the above in perspective regarding the degree of taxation we should fully expect, my friend and Macro Analytics Co-Host Charles Hugh Smith wrote this “template letter”. It somewhat cynically outlines what we should soon expect from the government to help fulfill its escalating pension & healthcare promises to current & to retired government employees:
Dear Resident:
As you may have read, the costs of fulfilling our pension and healthcare promises to our retired and current employees have soared. As a result, pensions, healthcare and the annual interest due on city bonds (money we borrowed in the past) now consume all tax revenues.
Without additional funding, we will have to lay off all current employees and close City Hall, the libraries, the fire and police departments, parks and recreation, and the rest of the city departments.
To avoid this, we are asking you to approve increases in fees for use and the sale of new bonds to raise desperately needed funding.
The proposed fees for use:
1. A 50% annual increase in city garbage collection fees for the next decade, after which we anticipate an annual increase of 45% until 2096.
2. Building permits for any project under $5,000 will cost a minimum of $5,000. Fees for larger projects will start at $10,000 and rise on a sliding scale based on the value of the project.
3. Homeowners and contractors caught attempting to evade the building permit process will be fined a minimum of $5,000 or 200% of the estimated cost of their project, whichever is higher.
4. All street parking in the city will require an annual parking permit of $1,200 per vehicle per year.
5. Day use of all city parks will now cost $10 per family per day. Reserving BBQ grills and tables will cost $100.
6. Internet and wifi service in the city will be taxed $1,000 annually per household.
7. Residents will be taxed $100 each annually, payable on the first of January, for consuming the city’s air.
8. Parking violations will be increased from $35 per violation to $500 per violation.
9. Asking city staff for information about city regulations will cost $10, payable before the question is asked.
10. All residents will pay a sidewalk usage fee of $100 annually.
11. A hotel tax of 100% of the cost the room will be imposed from January 1, 2016, including private AirBnB rentals of rooms and apartments.
12. Every home-based business must obtain a city business license annually for a sliding-scale fee that starts at $1,000. Anyone caught evading this tax will be jailed as a financial terrorist bent on depriving city employees of their livelihoods.
Residents who cannot afford the new fees can deed their homes to the city, and pay rent to live in the home they once owned.
Unfortunately, the new fees for use will only pay a fraction of the salaries of our employees and managers, and so we also need your approval of new bonds:
BOND A: $30 million to keep the libraries open for two years.
BOND B: $30 million to keep City Hall open for two years.
BOND C: $30 million to fill the gargantuan potholes in city streets for two years.
BOND D: $30 million to keep the city parks open for two years.
BOND E: $30 million to keep the city Public Affairs department funded for two years, so they can continue explaining why the city is broke and why it’s such a great place to live.
BOND F: $30 million to hire retired employees pulling down $8,000 a month in pensions and benefits for $100,000 per year salaries as “consultants.”
BOND G: $30 million to fund a public-relations campaign for two years extolling the city’s “green initiatives” and selling the city’s potential to global corporations.
BOND H: $30 million to fund tax breaks for global corporations that open an office in the city.
BOND I: $30 million to fund studies on how to raise more revenues from fees for use.
BOND J: $30 million to fund more appeals like this for increased fees for use and the issuance of more bonds to fund everyday city functions.
BOND K: $30 million to purchase a surplus M1 Abrams tank for crowd control and to root out financial terrorists depriving the city of the revenue it deserves.
With your support, the city managers expect revenues to cover expenses by 2096, assuming the city’s functions have been fully automated and there are only 12 employees left managing the servers. Until then, please support our efforts to grow the city out of its budgetary hole” …
Clark - are you describing Chicago?
retire age 55 in my county/state
teachers w 75% of pay
Got TABOR?
First this….
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/545146/battles-over-net-metering-cloud-the-future-of-rooftop-solar/
and its intending result……
SolarCity in Nevada - 550 (layoffs)
Solar panel installer SolarCity SCTY -0.73% said it would cut 550 jobs in Nevada, two weeks after the state’s utilities commission approved changes that would reduce credits customers receive for selling excess solar power to the grid.
The company, which has more than 13,000 employees, said it would relocate the affected workers to business-friendly states.
“The company, which has more than 13,000 employees, said it would relocate the affected workers to business-friendly states.”
He wants the state to be “business friendly” to his company. Unfortunately it chose to be friendly to the much bigger utility companies
warren buffet bought some folks off again it appears.
Actually the regulator said it was a matter of fairness to the other customers who, under the feed in subsidy, were forced to pay for the foolishness of the solar installations. The utility company should care less.
The ugly truth about solar is finally coming to light:
Without subsidies, it isn’t worth it. The early adopters who got a full bite of the subsidies will be fine, while the rest of us pay for them.
Remember what our president said: “Electricity rates must necessarily increase.”
Well, they took the cheese
With U.S. encouragement, VA disability claims rise sharply
More than 875,000 Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans have joined the disability rolls so far. That’s 43% of those who served — a far higher percentage than for any previous U.S. conflict, including World War II and Vietnam, which had significantly higher rates of combat wounds.
——————————————————————–
President Obama’s Executive Order on Gun Control Has Arrived
By Joe Perticone (1 day ago)
3) “Increase mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system.”
The third part of the plan tackles an issue congressional Republicans have been open to addressing: mental health.
The Social Security Administration gets thrown into the mix, too. The plan outlines a proposed method for allowing various agencies to report more individuals who suffer from mental health problems.
“The Social Security Administration has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to include information in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm for mental health reasons.
The executive order also calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to be able to report on those whose mental health disorders prevent them from possessing a firearm:
———————————————————————————
Rules Change for Vets’ PTSD Benefits
July 12, 2010 at 12:00 AM EST
Under the new rule, the VA will pay disability benefits up to $2,700 a month and provide free health care to vets with PTSD, if they can show they served in a war zone and experienced fear or traumatic events believed to have caused their condition.
A VA psychiatrist or psychologist must also support the claim. The new rule applies to veterans of all wars. Under old regulations, a veteran had to prove verifiable names, locations and times when a traumatic event or stressor occurred, something many have found impossible to do many months after the fact.
President Obama said the change was long overdue on Saturday in his weekly radio address.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military-july-dec10-ptsd_07-12/ - 78k -
————————————————————————
With U.S. encouragement, VA disability claims rise sharply
Alan ZaremboContact Reporter
July 12, 2014
As Malvin Espinosa prepared to retire from the Army in 2011, a Veterans Affairs counselor urged him to apply for disability pay.
List all your medical problems, the counselor said.
Espinosa, a mechanic at Ft. Lee in Virginia, had never considered himself disabled. But he did have ringing in his ears, sleep problems and aching joints. He also had bad memories of unloading a dead soldier from a helicopter in Afghanistan.
“Put it all down,” he recalled the counselor saying.
Espinosa did, and as a result, he is getting a monthly disability check of $1,792, tax free, most likely for the rest of his life. The VA deems him 80% disabled due to sleep apnea, mild post-traumatic stress disorder, tinnitus and migraines.
More than 875,000 Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans have joined the disability rolls so far. That’s 43% of those who served — a far higher percentage than for any previous U.S. conflict, including World War II and Vietnam, which had significantly higher rates of combat wounds.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-veterans-disability-20140713-story.html - 66k -
Anyone claiming any kind of mental health problem will soon become a reason for the government to take away your civil rights.
A faceless bureaucrat can put anyone on the no fly list without any kind of due process. It is nearly impossible to get off the list. It will also be another reason to take away your civil rights.
However, illegals voting without ID is still OK.
Call them heroes, send them to kill brownies, then throw them away when they come back broken.
Females have far higher rates of being injured in training or experiencing mental health problems, yet the military’s PC Commisars are doubling down on their social engineering and feminization of the armed services. This is going to blow a massive hole in the VA’s budget, not to mention severely undermining our military readiness, morale, and discipline.
Seems like it’s been a bad year for St. Louis.
Rams owner Kroenke rips St. Louis market as he seeks LA move
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The NFL would benefit most by moving the Rams to Los Angeles, leaving behind a St. Louis market that lags economically and a stadium proposal doomed for failure, the team said in its relocation application provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke, a real estate billionaire who still lives in Missouri, has proposed building a $1.8 billion stadium in Inglewood, California, with plans to put the Rams back in the market they left to move to St. Louis in 1995. The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders want to move to the Los Angeles area, too, proposing to share a stadium that would be built in Carson, California. All three teams submitted applications last week and owners meeting Jan. 12-13 in Houston could make a decision on relocation.
seems they all want a new facility but they want taxpayers to foot the bill.
Seems to be a bargaining chip when they threaten to leave.
But which team will be able to pony up that $550M relocation fee? That is the half-billion dollar question.
You all mentioned party houses yesterday. My coworker said over the weekend they rented a fat house for $4500 for the weekend from AirBNB. Basically threw a crazy party, dancey music and drugs and food and stuff. Ended up only costing $130 per person since 50 people came. They stayed out of other people’s way and vice versa so no issues. I guess they do this often, thanks to AirBNB.
Clean up and damage costs?
I think they clean it up really well and no damage so they keep a good reputation so their feedback is positive so they can rent others in the future.
Post a link.
You first.
You’ve got a beef with the data my friend. You got a beef with the data.
How’s that hope ‘n change working out for ya, ‘Murica?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-americans-are-one-paycheck-away-from-the-street-2016-01-06
The rarest of the rare: a member of the thin blue line lies in an official statement and actually gets charged with perjury.
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-grand-jury-indicts-trooper-in-sandra-bland-traffic-stop-2016-1
Germans who voted for Merkel and her Quisling CDU are getting their reality check.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-06/eyewitness-account-monstrous-migrant-attacks-germany-its-civil-war
Lynnwood, WA Housing Market Craters; Prices Dive 5% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/picnic-point-north-lynnwood-wa-98037/home-values/
75% of ‘Muricans say they believe in widespread government corruption, yet 95% voted for the corrupt, crony-capitalist status quo in 2008 and 2012. The stupidity, it burns….
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-06/gallup-explains-trump-staggering-75-americans-believe-widespread-government-corrupti
Got gold?
http://investmentresearchdynamics.com/the-federal-reserves-salvation-army-school-of-economics-2/
wow, sh*t just hit the fan, chinese stock market down 7% in 30 mins, trading halted for rest of the day.
That escalated quickly….
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-07/chinese-stocks-trigger-trading-halt-after-csi-300-declines-5-
2nd time this week? 14 percent down in a week? Going down quicker than Monica.
And less graciously…
technically, the market only traded for 15 mins. It took 13 min to -5%, at which point trading halted for 15 mins. when it resumed, took less than 2 mins to -7%.
China’s rigged market might be the first Ponzi market to implode, but it definitely won’t be the last.
Do the Chinese newbies buy or sell at open tomorrow? I suspect many will sell and listen to the Who “Won’t get fooled again” for the first time.
Didn’t the regime promise a bounce to 4,000 after the collapse to under 3,000 a few months ago. Oops never made it.
Loss from 12/31/2015 to January 6 in Chinese market is over half a trillion dollars.
Got popcorn?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-06/china-devalues-yuan-most-august-collapse-offshore-yuan-crashes-5-handles
I realize this time is different, but didn’t global markets seriously freak out the last time China devalued?
BBC News
Sections
US & Canada
Is Donald Trump a Democratic secret agent?
Anthony Zurcher North America reporter
11 December 2015
From the section US & Canada
Republican leaders are currently thrashing about - holding secret meetings, issuing confidential memos and making public denunciations - as they approach a state of near panic over what Donald Trump is doing to their party. It’s enough to make some believe that Mr Trump may not have the Republican establishment’s best interests at heart.
Could Donald Trump be a secret double-agent, sent by Democrats to destroy their party from within?
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who has borne the brunt of more than a few Trump barbs, seems to think there’s a possibility.
“Maybe Donald negotiated a deal with his buddy Hillary Clinton,” Mr Bush tweeted this week, after Mr Trump cited a poll showing his supporters would stick with him if he left the Republican Party. “Continuing this path will put her in the White House.”
The New York billionaire has a spotty political history, at best. He was a Republican, then he was a pro-choice Democrat, and now he’s a fire-breathing, anti-immigration populist conservative.
Could this latest iteration of Mr Trump’s political brand be just a ruse, the elaborate cover for a liberal saboteur who has spent the past year setting explosives that threaten the unity of the party he pledged to support?
He’s belittling his Republican colleagues. He’s pulling the party to the nativist right in direct conflict with the goal set by strategists in 2013 to appeal to a more ethnically diverse nation. And he’s generally sucking up all the political oxygen, making it harder for other candidates to get their message out. All in all, many experts say he’s making it much more difficult for a Republican to win the general election next fall. Maybe he’s doing it on purpose.
It’s a theory that has been bubbling long before Mr Bush’s recent Twitter accusation.
“If Donald Trump were a Democratic mole placed in the Republican Party to disrupt things, how would his behaviour be any different?” asked conservative political commentator George Will in July. “I don’t think it would be.”
…
“Maybe Donald negotiated a deal with his buddy Hillary Clinton,”
Is there a chance Trump will end up as Hillary’s running mate if the Republican party fails to nominate him? Could he use this threat to negotiate himself to a Republican nomination?
‘Politics breeds strange bedfellows.’
Frau Merkel’s gift to Germany.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cologne-new-year-gang-assaults-victim-18-says-up-to-30-men-groped-and-robbed-her-and-her-11-friends-a6798946.html
Will UK politicians bow to The Donald’s threats?
BBC News
Scotland
Donald Trump threatens to pull £700m investment from Scotland
9 hours ago
From the section Scotland
Reuters Image caption
Donald Trump is currently seen as the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination
Donald Trump has threatened to withhold £700m of investment in Scotland if he is banned from entering the UK.
MPs will debate later this month whether the US presidential hopeful should be refused entry.
It follows the billionaire property tycoon calling for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US.
More than half a million people backed a petition calling on the tycoon to be barred for his comments, triggering a debate in the Commons.
However, there will be no vote at the end of the debate and it will be up to Home Secretary Theresa May to decide whether or not Mr Trump should be excluded from the UK.
Mr Trump owns the Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire as well as Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen.
In a statement, his Trump Organisation said it had planned to invest more than £200m at Turnberry and a further £500m at the Aberdeenshire course.
But it warned that any action to restrict travel would force it to “immediately end these and all future investments we are currently contemplating in the United Kingdom”.
It added: “Westminster would create a dangerous precedent and send a terrible message to the world that the United Kingdom opposes free speech and has no interest in attracting inward investment.
“This would also alienate the many millions of United States citizens who wholeheartedly support Mr Trump and have made him the forerunner by far in the 2016 presidential election.
“Many people now agree with Mr Trump that there is a serious problem that must be resolved. This can only be achieved if we are willing discuss these tough issues openly and honestly.”
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last month joined the calls for Mr Trump to be considered for exclusion from the UK.
…
“This would also alienate the many millions of United States citizens who wholeheartedly support Mr Trump and have made him the forerunner by far in the 2016 presidential election.”
Does Trump seriously believe MPs don’t know how to read an English language newspaper?
The Pineapples have a new idol….
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-06/cologne-mayor-slammed-after-telling-german-women-keep-would-be-rapists-arms-length
Bad when your retirement funds dop $15,000 in one day. Nice when your municipal bond funds go up by $1500 in one day.
Win some. Lose a lot
I yanked a lot of my equities funds the first day of 2016, which was a day too late!
I think you and I might have similar percentages in “old man investments,” as my former colleague would call it. Not to worry.
Enjoy the rainfall - because we will have a wonderful spring here in Sou Cal! Lots of nice new things the plants around us will boast about in two or three months, eh?
Did you see video of the LA river? Lots of trash and pollution headed to the ocean. Nasty.
When do the muddy downhill home races start?
I’d like to wish all of the Chinese stock market investors who post and read here a very happy 2016, especially Albuquerque Dan!
Is the Chinese circuit breaker broken?
The Wall Street Journal
China stock trading halted early after 7% plunge
Published: Jan 6, 2016 9:40 p.m. ET
Newly installed ‘circuit breaker’ kicks in after 30 minutes
All is not well with the Chinese market.
By Shen Hong
SHANGHAI — China’s stock market tumbled and scored its shortest trading day in its 25-year history on Thursday, as Beijing’s growing tolerance of a weaker currency intensified concerns about capital flight and the health of the world’s No. 2 economy.
The stock market stopped trading about 30 minutes after opening, as a newly-installed mechanism to limit volatility kicked in for the second time this week.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP, -7.32%) ended the dramatically brief trading day down 7.2% at 3115.89.
The selloff was reminiscent of the similar but more drawn-out episode on Monday, the first day the so-called “circuit breaker” trading curb was in effect.
The circuit breaker system is triggered by sharp moves in an index that tracks that largest 300 stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, the CSI 300. When the index moves 5%, trading is automatically halted for 15 minutes, while a 7% move stops trading for the remainder of the session.
…
I feel so sorry for my Chinese neighbors. Not only did they pay near the Echo Bubble peak price for the crappy rental property they converted into an owner-occupied home, but I have no doubt the guy is losing his arse on Chinese stocks.
Too bad, so sad.
Have Chinese stock market investors lost faith in their plunge protectors?
Valuation shrinkage continues even when markets are closed!
Financial Times
January 7, 2016 2:37 am
China stock markets closed after falling 7 per cent
Patrick McGee in Hong Kong
An investor looks at screens showing stock market movements at a securities company in Beijing on January 5, 2016. Volatility shook Chinese stock markets on January 5, as the Shanghai index dropped more than three percent on concerns over regulatory uncertainty and slowing growth before recovering, a day after authorities halted trading to arrest falling prices.
AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR
©AFP
China’s entire equity market has shut early — again — after the second threshold of its new “circuit breaker” was breached within the first 30 minutes of trading.
Stocks plunged, for the second time this week, after the renminbi saw its biggest one-day weakening since China’s surprise devaluation last August. Currency concerns have spooked China’s markets which have gone into a replay of last summer’s meltdown and left policymakers struggling to contain the fallout.
On Wednesday, the People’s Bank of China fixed the midpoint — the level around which it permits the onshore currency to trade 2 per cent — at Rmb6.5646, 0.51 per cent weaker than Wednesday and its biggest one-day weakening since China’s surprise devaluation in August first alerted investors to renminbi risk
The CSI 300, a collection of blue chips in Shanghai and Shenzhen, triggers the circuit breaker if it falls 5 per cent, forcing a 15-minute market freeze. It did so within 13 minutes of the market opening.
Upon resumption the losses continued, hitting 7 per cent and causing the entire market to be shut for the day.
…
This is shaping up as a historic rout.
Markets | Wed Jan 6, 2016 10:33pm EST
China stocks trading halted after rout
SHANGHAI
A logo of yuan is seen at a foreign exchange store in Shanghai, China, December 1, 2015.
REUTERS/Aly Song
China accelerated the devaluation of the yuan on Thursday, sending currencies across the region reeling and domestic stock markets tumbling, as investors feared the Asian giant was kicking off a virtual trade war against its competitors.
Trading on China’s stock markets were suspended for the rest of the day, for the second time this week, as a new circuit-breaking mechanism was tripped less than half an hour after the open.
The People’s Bank of China again surprised markets by setting the official midpoint rate on the currency at 6.5646 yuan per dollar, the lowest since March 2011.
That was 0.5 percent weaker than the day before and the biggest daily drop since last August, when an abrupt near 2 percent devaluation of the currency also roiled markets.
The impact was immediate as regional currencies went into a tailspin. The Australian dollar, often used as a liquid proxy for the yuan, fell half a U.S. cent in a blink.
Shanghai stocks slid 7 percent to trigger the halt in trading, a repeat performance of Monday’s sudden tumble. Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.8 percent in sympathy.
…
Glad I am short the Chinese market.
But I jumped in too early, still underwater.
Much welcome rainfall in Southern California! More on the way! I love the aesthetics of having a fire in the fireplace but only do so when it is raining. Will buy lots more wood this winter.
Stocks going south but people rushing in to buy treasuries and municipals, as well as metals and crypto currency! Whew!
Load up on cash too my friends. Physical. Avoid the worst affect of the upcoming bail in in the USA.
It’s fantastic. We had a tornado warning this afternoon, for good measure!
Rain, precious rain!
Storm Brings Heavy Rain, Snow — And A Tornado Warning
Residents were advised to take shelter during a brief tornado warning
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
By KPBS News, City News Service
A man collects shopping carts in front of the H Mart in Mira Mesa as the rain falls, Jan. 6, 2016.
By Brooke Ruth
72-hour rainfall totals
As of 4:00 p.m. Wednesday:
• Kearny Mesa, 2.91 inches.
• Fashion Valley, 2.31 inches.
• San Onofre, 2.69 inches.
• Lindbergh Field, 1.86 inches.
• Point Loma, 1.85 inches.
• Vista, 1.79 inches.
• Carlsbad, 1.82 inches.
• Oceanside, 2.55 inches.
• Mission Beach, 1.06 inches.
• Chula Vista, 1.03 of an inch.
• Encinitas, 1.59 of an inch.
• Del Mar, .84 of an inch.
• Poway, 3.36 inches.
• Ramona, 2.96 inches.
• Santee, 2.44 inches.
• Valley Center, 2.22 inches.
• La Mesa, 1.85 inches.
• Lakeside, 1.66 inches.
• Escondido, 2.55 inches.
• El Cajon, 1.39 inches.
• Alpine, 1.31 inches.
• Julian, 2.74 inches.
• Borrego Springs, 0.62 of an inch.
• Ocotillo Wells, 0.32 of an inch.
UPDATE: 7:30 p.m., Jan. 6, 2016
It wasn’t just rain that hit the county on Wednesday. There was snow.
In the Mount Laguna area, snow showers were expected to continue through the night and into Thursday, the National Weather Service said. As much as 10 to 14 inches of snow was predicted. The low Wednesday night was expected to be around 29, with wind gusts up 70 mph. The high Thursday was forecast for 31, with wind gusts up to 45 mph.
Chains also were being required in the Mount Laguna area on Sunrise Highway from state Route 79 to Interstate 8, according to the San Diego County Department of Public Works.
Back on lower ground, county officials reported several road closures. Rock slides in Jamacha led to Willow Glen Drive being closed near Hillsdale Road. In Spring Valley, the Quarry Road Dip was closed between Lakeview Avenue and state Route 125.
…
Dumb question of the evening:
Since China is on the opposite side of the planet, do its plunge protection measures work in reverse? That is, when the authorities try to rescue the stock market, do prices actually fall even faster?
More seriously, isn’t a currency devaluation supposed to support the domestic stock market, not sink it?
Markets
The Perils of China’s Market Plunge
Thursday’s selloff was more about the economy than the stock market
An investor looked at a screen at a brokerage house in Beijing on Jan. 4.
Photo: European Pressphoto Agency
By Ken Brown
Updated Jan. 7, 2016 12:56 a.m. ET
The Thursday selloff in China was more about the country’s economy than its stock market. The market sank—and was shut down—because of Beijing’s move to further devalue its currency. That in itself is sending an ominous message to investors: All the government’s stimulus efforts simply aren’t working.
A currency devaluation is seen as a last-ditch effort to boost exports. The fear is China won’t be able to maintain its growth targets while trying to transition the economy from heavy manufacturing to services.
For the individual Chinese investors who drive the market, this loss of confidence has compelled them to stash savings in cash or try to get their money overseas. There is no real reason to keep their investments in Chinese stocks, where earnings are weakening, if they are facing an uphill struggle with the yuan as well.
Since this summer, the main reason to buy Chinese stocks was the belief that Beijing would push the market up, no matter what the cost. If investors believe Beijing can’t or won’t deliver, the basic thesis for buying stocks is shot.
The decline in the currency also exposes the contradictions in Chinese government policy. Beijing has pledged to maintain the stability of the yuan as part of its effort to be selected as a reserve currency by the International Monetary Fund. But once it got that status, the Chinese central bank drove the currency down.
Last year, Beijing tried to boost the economy and solve some of its debt problems by driving a rally in the stock market. When that failed, it tried to both keep the stock market stable and give the economy a jolt by driving down the yuan. The problem is a weakening currency makes stocks unappealing to own. Investors are saying Beijing can’t have it both ways.
To be fair, Chinese policy makers are in a tough position. Because their currency was roughly pegged to the dollar, it has risen against most of its global competitors. That has made its exports more expensive. Recently, it shifted its benchmark to a basket of currencies, which gives it more flexibility, but that move came too late, and devaluing now based on the switch looks bad.
Another problem is the volatility of China’s own stock market. While this week’s addition of circuit breakers was a good step and puts the system more in line with Western markets, China didn’t account for its market’s wild swings when it set the circuit breaker thresholds.
Trading in China gets shut down if the market falls by 7%, which it did in just the first half an hour of trading on Thursday. On Monday, trading was suspended after shares fell 5% and then when it resumed, they hit the 7% shutdown target in just a few minutes.
But in the far more docile U.S. market, shares need to fall 20% for the market to shut down for the day. China’s 7% circuit break effectively locks in that day’s losses. Investors, seeing a rapid decline, will hasten the selloff by dumping shares to get out before the market shuts down, leaving no time for a rebound to take hold. There are also still billions in margin loans outstanding in the market, which speeds up declines.
While little foreign money is invested in the Chinese stock market, this week’s declines matter to Western investors and to China for two reasons. First, it exposes Beijing’s discomfort with free markets, meaning markets they can’t control.
Second, Western companies still pour billions worth of foreign direct investment into China each year, all because companies think they can profit from China’s fast growth. If they don’t believe in the growth, that money flow will dry up.
…
It must really suck to have believed the Chinese government authorities would some how rescue their stock market against a backdrop of a “worse than expected” economic slowdown!
BloombergBusiness
As China Revives Stock Intervention, Foreign Funds Lose Patience
Ye Xie and Bonnie Cao
January 5, 2016 — 5:27 PM PST
Updated on January 6, 2016 — 8:14 AM PST
This photo taken on August 13, 2015 shows investors monitoring screens showing stock market movements at a brokerage house in Shanghai. Shanghai stocks were down 0.40 percent, or 15.01 points to 3,779.10, by the break on August 20, 2015, narrowing morning losses on expectations of more government support measures for equities following volatile trading the previous day, dealers said. AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE
China Halts Stock Trading After 7% Rout Triggers Circuit Breaker
China’s latest efforts to rescue its stock market are driving away some of the world’s biggest investors.
Policy makers revived intervention in the $6.5 trillion market this week, as state-controlled funds bought equities on Tuesday and the securities regulator signaled a selling ban on major investors will remain beyond its Jan. 8 expiration date, according to people familiar with the matter. The measures to combat a 7 percent selloff at the start of 2016 follow unprecedented intervention to prop up shares during a $5 trillion rout over the summer.
While the maneuvers may stabilize the market temporarily, they’re unnecessary because intervention creates price distortions and fosters moral hazard as traders come to view the government as a backstop for shares, according to UBS Wealth Management, Henderson Global Investors and Wells Fargo Funds Management. With the median stock on Chinese exchanges trading at the highest valuation among major markets, all seven strategists and fund managers surveyed by Bloomberg last month said they expected regulators to let the six-month selling restriction lapse.
“I’m disappointed that they continued to use these sorts of quantitative controls,” Jorge Mariscal, the emerging-markets chief investment officer at UBS Wealth Management, which oversees $1 trillion, said by phone from New York. “These sorts of measures are going to backfire.”
…
BloombergBusiness
Shanghai Fund Manager Dumps All Holdings in ‘Insane’ Market
Bloomberg News
January 6, 2016 — 7:58 PM PST
Updated on January 6, 2016 — 8:57 PM PST
A Shanghai fund dumped all its holdings as Chinese shares tumbled and triggered a circuit-breaker that halted trading in the world’s second-biggest stock market.
“This is insane,” Chen Gang, chief investment officer at Shanghai Heqi Tongyi Asset Management Co., said in an interview on Thursday. “We were forced to liquidate all our holdings this morning,” said Chen, whose firm manages about 300 million yuan ($45.5 million).
China’s CSI 300 Index plunged 7.2 percent before trading was halted by automatic circuit-breakers for the second time this week, after a weaker-than-estimated yuan fixing fueled concern that slowing economic growth is prompting authorities to guide the currency lower. Many private funds and hedge funds in China have agreements with investors spelling out mandatory liquidation levels if their holdings drop below a certain value.
Chinese regulators have imposed a limit on the amount of stock major corporate shareholders can sell as authorities move to curb the nation’s market rout. The CSRC capped the size of stakes that major investors are allowed to sell at 1 percent of a company’s shares for three months effective Jan. 9, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday. The restriction replaces an existing six-month ban on any secondary market stock sales that is due to expire Friday, it said.
‘Couldn’t Be Worse’
Chen, who commented before the CSRC announced its new caps, said he “won’t consider getting back into the market until that overhang is gone and CSRC improves its circuit-breaker system, for instance by extending the 15-minute break to half an hour.”
The Shanghai Heqi Tongyi manager, whose fund started mid-year in 2015, regretted the timing of its launch and said it “couldn’t be worse.” Chen isn’t alone in criticizing the circuit-breaker rule introduced Monday, which many say exacerbates a liquidity squeeze as investors rush for the exits before trading halts kick in. Under the new rule, a drop of 5 percent suspends trading for 15 minutes, while a decline of 7 percent halts the market for the rest of the day.
“A trading break of 15 minutes or even longer wouldn’t ease their nerves or get them a clear picture of the fundamentals,” said Polar Zhang, a Beijing-based analyst at BOC International Holdings Ltd. “On the contrary, it’s draining liquidity as everybody tries to get out of the door before the door is closed. ”
…
Which death spiral seems worth: Oil or Chinese stocks?
Worse (I don’t really have a lithp!)…
3 big reasons oil’s caught in a death spiral
Published: Jan 6, 2016 5:05 p.m. ET
Analyst: ‘This tension is different than what we’ve seen in the past.’
By Myra P. Saefong
Markets/commodities reporter
Conflicts in the Middle East used to spur rallies in oil.
The bears are mauling the crude-oil market right now and they’re not done.
Growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the risk of disruptions to output in the region, attacks on Libya’s oil infrastructure—and now a huge weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories would normally be enough to spur a rally in oil prices.
But these aren’t normal circumstances and oil prices have, instead, plunged every day so far in 2016.
On Wednesday, Brent oil (LCOG6, -4.00%) —the international benchmark—and its U.S. counterpart West Texas Intermediate trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (CLG6, -3.59%) settled at their lowest levels in more than 11 years.
Here are a few reasons why oil is cratering:
…
What are the chances the China selloff morphs into outright panic?
The Sydney Morning Herald
Business Day
ASX sinks over 2pc as China panic sparks selling frenzy
Date January 7, 2016 - 5:02PM
Stephen Cauchi
Business reporter
Market heavyweight BHP’s 4.8 per cent dive on Thursday contributed to the benchmark stock index’s 2 per cent decline.
Australian shares slumped for a fifth straight session - and are once again testing 5000 levels - as China’s currency devaluations continue to frighten global investors, while oil prices fell to 11-year lows, prompting a major sell-off in energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 sank 2.2 per cent on Thursday to 5010.3, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 2.1 per cent to 5068.8.
The ASX suffered its worst one-day performance in more than three months, its worst week since August 2011, and its worst start of the year on record, chalking up a loss of 5.4 per cent, or $78 billion in market capitalisation, in 2016.
Overseas leads were poor, with a 1.5 per cent drop in the Dow Jones and Brent crude oil falling to 2004 levels, and the local market was down from the outset.
Domestic economic data didn’t help, with building approvals slumping 12.7 per cent in November after a 3.3 per cent rise in the previous month. The fall far exceeded expectations of a 3 per cent drop and is a worry as the housing construction boom is seen as one of the few bright spots in the economy.
But the losses accelerate when, around midday, the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s official midpoint rate 0.51 per cent lower at 6.5646 per US dollar. That was the biggest daily fall since last August, when Beijing surprised the market with an abrupt near 2 per cent devaluation of the Chinese currency.
‘Hard hit’ stocks
The news spooked investors, with Chinese stock exchanges closing early for the second time this week after the CSI 300 Index plunged more than 7 per cent.
“There was a few data releases for Australia - building approvals, which missed, and we also had trade numbers which were slightly weak as well,” said Russell Investments portfolio analyst Andrew Zenonos.
“But the key thing has been the Chinese decision to weaken the currency further. Once that came out the Chinese market opened quite lower and put further pressure on the Australian market.”
Commodity and banking stocks had been hard hit, said Mr Zenonos.
“Overnight we saw energy and commodities selling off quite heavily so we’ve seen a big move down in BHP. In the energy space we’ve seen stocks like Santos and Oil Search being hit quite hard as well.
“After we saw the weak economic data come out of Australia we also saw the banks being sold off.”
In a sign of just how worried financial markets are about the developments in China, the oil price also fell sharply after Beijing devalued the yuan.
Big four slump
The price for benchmark Brent fell as much as 3.3 per cent in Asian trade to $US33.09, the lowest in more than 11 years, extending a hefty 6 per cent overnight slump.
…
China panic sends market into tailspin
AAP – 1 hour 0 minutes ago
Nearly $87 billion has been wiped from Australian equities in the first four trading sessions of 2016 after another Chinese meltdown sent the local market plunging by more than two per cent on Thursday.
The local bourse lost more than $36 billion in a session where the miners, banks and energy producers were hammered by a second trading halt to Chinese markets in a week and a fresh slump in oil prices to an 11-year low.
A devaluation of the yuan sparked a rapid seven-percent slump on Chinese markets, which triggered a wave of sell-offs on the local bourse.
With the indices plummeting more than 100 points, the S&P/ASX200 benchmark skidded under the 5,000 mark in the last hour of trade before resurfacing to hold just above the threshold.
“The market has had a horrible day with widespread selling across most of the major sectors,” CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said.
“Investors are concerned about what’s happening in China and the implications of the devaluation of the currency.
The bloodbath start to 2016 has seen the local market lose more than five per cent but Mr Spooner said that investors should be becoming increasingly familiar with volatility and full percentage swings.
“It’s been a very poor start to the year but in terms of the overall index, still above where we were three weeks ago pre-Santa Claus rally.
…
China market panic explained in 90 seconds
“Why Bank Of America Just Said To Go Long “Cash & Volatility”, In Charts”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-07/three-reasons-why-bank-america-just-said-go-long-cash-volatility
Old news and 14 months too late. I hope you all got out of debt. You had plenty of time.