Bits Bucket for January 21, 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
If you rent, your poop smell.
Hey loanowner, you can use this renter’s bank account and brokerage statements to wipe that sh*t off your shoe (it’s alot of pages) because I have so much money after “throwing money away on rent” every month that I don’t know where to throw it.
Denver, an overpriced, traffic clogged, pollution choked, city you should NOT move to and expect to have any quality of life:
http://m.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2016/01/21/denver-home-prices-jumped-about-10-percent-in-2015.html
The Goon will be in Los Angeles next month for business, it will be like travelling to the future and seeing how bad Denver’s traffic and pollution will be ten years from now, LOLZ.
Traffic still sucks in LA, but the air is a lot better than it was 10 years ago. Better than I remember Denver being.
Denver’s air is only really bad in the winter when there is a thermal inversion. It’s much better during the rest of the year. There are plenty of days in LA when you can’t see the mountains through the smog. I can’t recall a day like that in Denver. But yes, Denver’s smog has worsened overall.
And the traffic, while it has definitely worsened, isn’t even close to LA’s traffic nightmare. I’ve had the pleasure of more than once needing 2+ hours to travel 30 miles on LA freeways.
go paperless!
If you have to borrow for 15 or 30 years, you can’t afford it nor is it affordable.
I was having this conversation with a young colleague last night at a business dinner. I proposed the novel concept that she might instead save her money. All the homeloaners around me broke out laughing.
All the homeloaners around me broke out laughing.
Of course they did. They’re all congratulating each other over the “equity” they have in their houses. I see it all the time. I don’t bother talking about the bubble over lunch anymore. All I get for my trouble is a symphony of rolling eyes.
Equity is a fallacy my friends.
Remember…. I can ask $50k for my 10 year old Chevy pickup but where is the buyer at that price?
So it is with all depreciating assets like houses.
Blue, don’t you live in an area where housing is relatively cheap, i.e. sub $150K? At that pricing, rent will surpass PITI very quickly.
“Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-01-21 10:45:00
And yet you could have rented for half the carrying cost of your depreciating asset.”
No, I could not, so shut up.
Give then amount you overpaid it’s likely 40% of the carrying costs of your rapidly depreciating asset.
Rent is half the cost of buying Oxy, where I live and where the colleague lives.
That’s WHY I rent. Better to have the landlord deal with the stinky clogging issues (and roofing, and water heater and fireplace chimney sweeping…). Rent for me is almost 40% less than a standard 30-year PITI on an equivalent home in the same area.
My poop might smell but the fragrance of all that loose cash hides it pretty well.
There’s a coming tsunmai wave of seniors fleeing high-cost northeast states, coupled that with the shrinking pool of eligible buyers in those areas (ie. millennials can’t afford those places), that plus other economic conditions are creating a perfect storm for massive housing devaluations.. .this article explains the challenges further http://www.abrandao.com/2016/01/why-nj-northeast-real-estate-crash-in-coming-years/
He’s a little late to the party considering prices are already falling.
The only place boomers are going to are assisted living facilities and then to the grave leaving 35 million excess empty houses.
Maybe so, but the excess empty houses are located in old factory-union cities in the rust belt where no one wants to live. Or, the houses are in crappy condition. It’s not worth spending $30K to upgrade a $75K house.
No. They’re heavily located in major metro areas. NYC, SF, LA, DC, Miami, Dallas, etc.
As far as spending money on them, it’s throwing good money after bad regardless what anyone thinks they’re worth. Irrecoverable losses.
If only you could write something meaningful and true! HA!
If you only you could accept the truth Jingle_Fraud.
coming tsunmai wave of seniors fleeing high-cost northeast state
Time to snap up some Florida condos in expectation? Or are they moving elsewhere?
To that great exurb in the sky, but none of them want to admit it.
Frothing at Fox News is hell on the cardiovascular system.
If the seniors are fleeing high cost northeast states and millennials can’t afford those places, who are they going to sell to in order to flee?
I keep telling my baby boomer nearing retirement co-workers they better sell now because I’m 37 and make near six figures and can’t afford their houses and my 20-something friends are even further away from being able to do so.
Fleeing the cold and slippery ice, too!
Does it seem like we went from ‘everything is rosy’ to ’sell everything before it’s too late!’ in a record short amount of time this year? It isn’t like commodities started falling yesterday; I believe they have ended the year lower thsn they started for five straight years already.
Why is this suddenly deemed a cause for hitting the panic button?
The timing for a market panic to coincide with the Davos economic conclave couldn’t be better, as it gives the talking heads fodder for dramatic calls to action. Look for recommendations on ZIRP and QE4 out of Davos.
theguardian
Davos 2016
Fears grow of repeat of 2008 financial crash as investors run for cover
As leaders gathered in Davos, FTSE 100 was gripped by panic selling and entered bear market with Dow Jones also plunging
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid more than 450 points, or 2.9% in morning trading.
Photograph: Richard Drew/AP
Phillip Inman Economics correspondent
Wednesday 20 January 2016 17.07 EST
Last modified on Wednesday 20 January 2016 20.00 EST
Fears that the global economy could be heading for a repeat of the 2008 financial crash have sent shockwaves through financial markets – prompting a rush to safe havens by investors.
Oil prices fell to a fresh 12-year low on Wednesday and metal prices tumbled in response to warnings that China’s slowdown could derail the global recovery at a time when central banks, which came to the rescue in the credit crunch, have only limited firepower.
As world and business leaders gathered for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the FTSE 100 was gripped by panic selling, especially of mining and oil companies that have been hit hard by the global slowdown in manufacturing and trade. Earlier this week, China recorded the slowest rate of economic growth for 25 years.
The index dropped more than 200 points to finish the day down more than 20% from its peak of 7,122, reached in April last year. Such a 20% decline marks the beginning of a bear market.
In New York, shares on the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 249 points down (1.56%), recovering from a 550-point-drop earlier in the day, while Brent crude dropped to $27.78 a barrel – down by about 70% from its summer 2014 level of $115 a barrel.
Stock markets in Russia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia also dived as concerns mounted that countries already badly hit by the fall in oil prices could be forced to dip further into reserves to prevent an economic crisis. Global equities have had their worst start to a year on record.
…
I guess draghi has been wheeled out today to talk about more money printing. Like that has really worked in the past 7 years.
And when it’s quickly figured out that easing in the face of China slowdown and oil collapse doesn’t work nearly as well as last time, then what?
The deflationary spiral will continue.
You’re hedging Poet.
And when it’s quickly figured out that easing in the face of China slowdown and oil collapse doesn’t work nearly as well as last time, then what?
Stimulus checks? Social Security tax holiday?
I know they won’t work (they didn’t last time), just saying that might be what they’ll try next.
“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” - Charles Mackay
It seems they also run headlong over cliffs in herds, much like proverbial lemmings.
Marketwatch dot com
China stocks tumble in whipsaw trading
By Chao Deng
Published: Jan 21, 2016 5:37 a.m. ET
Japan stocks dive 2.4%, as Shanghai falls at the close
AFP/Getty Images
In Japan, it’s been a chilling start of the year for stocks.
China shares plunged Thursday, as widening losses in Hong Kong and signs of lessening intervention by Beijing spooked investors on the mainland.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP, -3.23%) finished down 3.2% at 2,880.48. It has lost 44% from its June peak, and was extending losses after falling into bear-market territory last week. A bear market is defined as a 20% drop or more from a recent high.
An acceleration of Chinese share losses followed declines in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng Index (HSI, -1.82%) reversed course late in the morning. The Hang Seng gave up earlier gains to close down 1.8% at 18,542.15.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei Stock Average (NIK, -2.43%) closed down 2.4% at 16,017.26, adding to Wednesday’s losses that kicked the benchmark into bear-market territory, joining China and Hong Kong.
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 (XJO, +0.46%) held onto a gain of 0.5% by its finish. That benchmark, at 4,864, is about 18% down from its recent peak in April.
South Korea’s Kospi (SEU, -0.27%) was down slightly by 0.3%. Meanwhile, India’s S&P (BSE Sensex 1, -0.41%) was last trading down 0.2%. Indian shares have lost 19% of their value from their peak a year ago.
A global rout picked up again after a brief reprieve in most of Asia in the morning.
Resource, steel and brokerage shares fell in Shanghai, dragging down the broader index. Nearly all of the stocks listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges declined, according to Wind Information, with 91 of them dropping by the daily maximum of 10% allowed by Chinese authorities.
Some analysts said local investors likely sold Shanghai shares off quickly in the last hour when they observed that Chinese state-owned funds hadn’t come in to support the market. These funds, the so-called “National Team,” had been tasked to buy up stocks starting last summer, but have been notably more absent this year.
…
Reuters
Top News
Wed Jan 20, 2016 | 5:45 PM EST
Plunging commodities prices take toll on Goldman Sachs, others
By Chris Prentice
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Wednesday became the latest company to report a quarterly revenue decline as oil prices extended their slump and unseasonably warm weather reduced the demand for natural gas and power.
Goldman’s revenue from fixed income, currency and commodities client execution was $1.12 billion for the fourth quarter, down 8 percent from the prior-year period primarily on “significantly lower” earnings in commodities, the bank said in a statement. That was more than 20 percent down from $1.46 billion during the third quarter.
While big banks and other companies including Cargill Inc are typically not directly exposed to falling prices, the far deeper than expected drop in oil prices has put a damper on the hedging services they offer to customers.
U.S. oil prices crashed below $27 a barrel on Wednesday.
Cargill reported a 13 percent slump in quarterly profit on Jan. 7.
Goldman described commodity client activity as “muted” during the quarter.
…
maybe they should have a major gas sale to soak up some excess inventory? I would stock up at 99 cents/ gallon.
“I would stock up at 99 cents/ gallon.”
And keep it where?
Barrels of course. Lola said so.
U.S. oil prices crashed below $27 a barrel on Wednesday.
I saw a gas station with $1.58 regular this morning.
Question for UK HBB’ers (paging frankie). Why hasn’t Petrol come down in price? I just checked online and it’s the same as last summer, while prices here in the states have dropped almost 40%.
Busted again.
UK Retail Fuel Prices Fall 28% Since Q2 2012
http://www.racfoundation.org/data/uk-pump-prices-over-time
Marketwatch dot com
Bear market mauling stocks may erase hundreds of billions from global GDP
By Mark DeCambre
Published: Jan 21, 2016 9:56 a.m. ET
GDP could see a decline of 0.5-0.9%, according to Oxford Economics
Bear markets are threatening global GDP.
A blistering downdraft in global stock markets may whack the global economy, according to a recent study from Oxford Economics.
A number of stock indexes world-wide already have drifted into bear-market territory, commonly defined as a drop from a recent peak of at least 20%. Japan’s Nikkei index (NIK, -2.43%) and the FTSE 100 (UKX, +0.77%) slipped into bear-market territory and the S&P 500 erased all of its gains since 2014 on Wednesday.
Adam Slater, lead economist at Oxford Economics, says in a Thursday research note that stock markets world-wide are facing a bear market, based on the slump in the MSCI World index (XWD, -0.43%) which has lost nearly 20% of its value since last May and 10% so far in January.
That bear-market environment, if sustained, could wipe out half to nearly a full percentage point (between 0.5%-0.9%) from global growth after two years, as the following chart attempts to illustrate…
That decline could amount to a decline of roughly $700 billion drop in global growth, based on calculations of global gross domestic product of more than $70 trillion, Slater told MarketWatch in a phone interview.
…
Our Keynesian central planners are finally being exposed for the frauds that they are.
We are back to central banker roulette again. It will be abe next week.
Will Russia be the first of the BRICS to default on its foreign debt?
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/01/21/ruble-plunges-25-in-90-days-government-says-to-heck-with-it/
It doesn’t matter if their debt was only 12% of GDP. Since their currency is collapsing that percentage has gone up, way up. And if the Ruble is collapsing that means that Russia lacks hard currency to service and pay back that debt. A default may very well be in the works. What that means for the Russian economy I don’t know. One thing is certain, they will be importing a lot less stuff.
Their debtors need to take massive haircuts!
I like the “shot across the bow” in the last paragraph…
Perhaps it is this sort of scenario that is worrying the Bank of Canada. The fear of “currency instability” is now cropping up in Canada after the loonie has plunged 33% in two years against the US dollar
Perhaps it is this sort of scenario that is worrying the Bank of Canada. The fear of “currency instability” is now cropping up in Canada after the loonie has plunged 33% in two years against the US dollar
Owing debts based on a foreign currency that is massively appreciating against your own while your foreign currency holdings vanish is not a good thing. It’s like being a Canuck with a house in the USA with an American mortgage. The monthly payments and the total debt, when converted into Loonies, goes up. And then the house’s price drops and you can’t unload it without bringing a check to closing.
Speaking of Russia, new report says Putin gave the orders to have Alexander Litvinenko murdered by polonium poisoning in London a decade ago.
George W. Bush looked into Putin’s eyes and talked to his soul. And the Trump wants to be Putin’s buttbuddy.
Maybe the Hillary could learn some new tricks from Putin too (type “clinton associates” into a Google search and it auto-fills with clinton associates who died) since she and Bill have a trail of bodies from Little Rock to DC going back four decades, and they’ll have some more cleanup to do on the path to the White House.
And lest we not forget, King Obama says he’s “really good at killing people.”
Forward.
Obama open mic slip to Russia’s Medvedev (Putin’s soul mate) : ‘After my election I have more flexibility’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsFR8DbSRQE
Maybe the Hillary could learn some new tricks from Putin too
Maybe she already did, or maybe … he learned from her.
Has Trump delivered a death blow to Ted Cruz’s campaign by shining a bright MSM spotlight on those shady loans from Goldman Sachs?
Not to worry, JEBrah will fix it!
I think Bob Dole saying everyone hates Cruz, he’s an “extremist”, and the GOP would suffer “cataclysmic” losses if he were the nominee was even more damaging.
More like, Trump laced Cruz’s green tea with radioactive Palinium…
Is this a good time to be out of debt?
It’s a good time to cash out the equity in your house while you are still able to, before the price of the house goes down and takes the equity down with it.
amen to that
NO.BETTER.TIME.
Has there ever been a more obviously corrupt candidate than Hillary Clinton?
Hillaryous is unelectable.
Telling that her supporters / excusers are never willing to answer.
So far the odds makers in Vegas say it’s gonna be Hillary.
http://www.oddsshark.com/entertainment/us-presidential-odds-2016-futures
The Machine grinds on …
Said the same this time in 08
Flint water crisis: emails reveal governor Snyder informed of problems a year ago
According to newly released emails concerns over the water were dismissed by officials who blamed mayor for exploiting public panic
……………….
Though the February memo does not specifically mention lead contamination, it does discuss the water quality problems in Flint extensively, including how the city’s water had dangerously high levels of a contaminant called total trihalomethanes, which can lead to liver or kidney issues. Exposure wasn’t a “top health concern”, the memo stated, as it only poses “a public health concern with chronic, long-term exposure”.
It also talked about corrosion inside of cast-iron pipes – the same process which led to the lead contamination – which is mentioned as a cause of “the brown water that angry residents were holding up in jugs for media cameras last week”. The memo continued: “discoloration is not an indicator of water quality or water safety, but we recognize that nobody likes it.”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/21/flint-water-crisis-emails-reveal-governor-snyder-informed-of-problems-a-year-ago
I saw that on cnn last night. the water looked like urine.
lol@poet
Ditto…what a cluster. Failure at every level of government. The lawsuits should keep hundreds of lawyers busy for years.
I love it
The democrat Flint mayor approved with a 7-1 vote from the all democrat city council to change water suppliers. The Obama EPA sat on it. Flint has been broke and under receivership and has an appointed manager. It’s just a little Detroit and another city ruined by democrat control that taxed away the job producers.
What do democrats do? Blame a republican governor who had nothing to do with it and call it racism…
And this is why we can’t have nice things.
“this is why we can’t have nice things.”
When you think about it, that’s sort of the basis of communism. “You can’t have nice things”. Unless you’re at the top. Otherwise, every man a prole!
“When you think about it, that’s sort of the basis of communism.”
And banking.
“’You can’t have nice things’. Unless you’re at the top. Otherwise, every man a prole!”
Yep, just like banking.
Under the system of Communism people are converted into proles due to coercion.
Under the system of Capitalism people are converted into proles due to persuasion.
People who are coerced into becoming a prole are always struggling to get out of the situation and will spend a lot of time and energy fighting against the system.
People who are persuaded to becoming a prole are always struggling to get into the situation and will spend a lot of time and energy defending the system.
Looks like the same swill that comes out of the pipes in Moscow.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he is confident Ireland will be insulated from some of the turbulence in the global economy, as he arrived in Davos on Thursday for the World Economic Forum.
Speaking ahead of a series of bilateral meetings with existing and potential investors, the Taoiseach said much of the discussion during the day would be about the challenges “outside our own economy”.
“The challenges are there and are going to have to be met globally and will have an impact on so many countries. From our point of view, as a domestic economy which is open, we’ve put in place a long-term economic plan to insulate us in so far as that is possible from any of these shifts.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/kenny-confident-ireland-insulated-from-economic-turbulence-1.2505276
Now why is he saying that could it be “The next Irish general election must take place no later than 11 April 2016.” is concentrating his mind.
What’s the dumbest thing MightyMike has ever said? Here’s my nomination.
“The fact that they may harbor anti-Jewish sentiment doesn’t matter much.” MightyMike 1-9-16.
Yesterday…
Paraphrasing…
“that we could cut the military in half and wipe out the deficits”
I didn’t say that.
You’re backpedalling.
At least you don’t have anger issues like Barney Saunders. You are fairly low energy.
http://lansingcitypulse.com/article-12189-The-trouble-with-Bernie.html
THERE are fears the collapse of Clive Palmer’s nickel empire could trigger civil unrest in New Caledonia, just weeks after its president personally warned the mining magnate of a potentially violent fallout.
News that Mr Palmer’s flailing Queensland Nickel business had been sent into voluntary administration on Monday sent shock waves through the French overseas territory, which relies heavily on its nickel ore exports income — Mr Palmer is one of its top customers.
As anger mounts in Australia over the loss of 237 jobs from Queensland Nickel’s Yabulu refinery in Townsville, there is real concern a future closure or mothballing of the refinery will spark political unrest and violence in New Caledonia, where a quarter of all private sector employment relates to nickel exports.
“If Yabulu collapses, there would be dire consequences for the country as a whole,” an anonymous government agency source told The Guardian.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/fears-for-civil-unrest-in-new-caledonia-over-possible-closure-of-queensland-nickel-refinery/news-story/633e200716384a60ec2448d4b4f8c3df
Donald Trump poised for the strongest primary performance in modern history.
http://theweek.com/articles/600335/donald-trump-poised-strongest-primary-performance-modern-history
Run those tables, Don!
Another Drudge Report link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-21/trump-fear-stalks-davos-as-elite-pray-for-spring-reality-check
F*ck Davos. I do not support the Donald, but if he can make the Davos/Aspen pigmen go full encopresis, he’s doing something right.
Forward.
Then he’d best be careful. He might experience an “unexpected” accident, say on his private jet.
… or his wig might catch fire…
Build that wall…for free
Deport those 11 mill…. for net free
Cut off Israel’s $ 8 billion! save $$
cut taxes for everyone!
build new airports and roads
Get Iraq’s oil and sell it!
Heck, what is not to like? doh!
EPA Home » About EPA » Our Mission and What We Do
The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
EPA’s purpose is to ensure that:
all Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work;
national efforts to reduce environmental risk are based on the best available scientific information;
http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/our-mission-and-what-we-do - 33k -
“her department was aware since April that Flint water was not being treated with chemicals to prevent lead from leaching”
EPA admits fault, blames Michigan officials over Flint
Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News 5:24 p.m. EST January 19, 2016
Washington — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency admitted Tuesday it should have acted more swiftly in addressing the issues with Flint’s drinking water.
An EPA spokeswoman told Reuters that the federal agency did not act fast enough in addressing the growing problem in the city.
The head of EPA’s Region 5 covering the Midwest told The Detroit News last week her department was aware since April that Flint water was not being treated with chemicals to prevent lead from leaching — a situation that its water expert said would put residents at risk for contamination. The agency did not alert the public to those concerns.
Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman said last week that, though her agency did not alert the public to the potential dangers, it followed proper protocol by repeatedly prompting Michigan’s DEQ to implement corrosion controls.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/01/19/epa-flint-water/79022506/ - 285k -
The EPA probably didn’t have time to alert the citizens of Flint to the lead in their drinking water because they were busy hunting small pond diggers.
Wyoming man files suit over massive EPA fines for building pond
By Eric Boehm Published August 28, 2015
A rancher is taking the Environmental Protection Agency to federal court, asking a judge to stop the agency from fining him more than $16 million because he built a small pond on his property.
Andy Johnson of Fort Bridger, Wyoming says he made sure to get the proper permits from his state government before building the pond. After all, this is America in the 21st century, and nothing done on your own property — certainly when it involves the use of water — is beyond government concern.
Johnson is facing millions in fines from the federal government after the EPA determined his small pond — technically a “stock pond” to provide better access to water for animals on his ranch — is somehow violating the federal Clean Water Act.
“We went through all the hoops that the state of Wyoming required, and I’m proud of what we built,” Johnson said. “The EPA ignored all that.”
In a compliance order, the EPA told Johnson he had to return his property — under federal oversight — to conditions before the stock pond was built. When he refused to comply, the EPA tagged Johnson with a fines of $37,000 per day.
http://www.foxnews.com/…/2015/08/28/wyoming-man-challenges-outrageous-epa-fines.html - 353k -
The EPA probably didn’t have time to alert the citizens of Flint to the lead in their drinking water because they were busy hunting small pond diggers.”
haha you got that right
He dammed a creek that ran through his property. The surprise is that the state said it was ok, and didn’t say he needed a federal permit. If that is indeed what happened.
Water rights: the origin of government.
The guy down river might see this story in a completely different light.
Liberal Press Logic:
Hurricane Katrina
Democratic mayor + Democratic governor + Republican president = blame the Republican president.
Flint, Michigan
Democratic mayor + Republican governor + Democratic president / EPA = blame the Republican governor.
We had to destroy the schools to save the schools….
It is for the children….
A promise is a promise…
We are the largest political donors in history. We got obama elected. Where is OUR bailout?
2banana’s solution. FIRE THEM ALL.
———————————–
Detroit School Bailout Jeopardized by Teacher Sickouts
Michigan Capitol Confidential | 1/16/2016 | Tom Gantert
A series of sickouts orchestrated by Detroit Public School teachers that has closed 83 schools since Dec. 10 is jeopardizing the chances of a bailout being approved by the Legislature, according to some Republican lawmakers.
The sickouts, which have impacted more than 34,000 students, come as the Legislature is being asked to approve Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan for a $715 million bailout of Detroit Public Schools. Snyder’s proposal needs legislative approval.
“I can’t see how this would ever have a favorable impact on that discussion,” Pavlov said in an email. “Denying education to students in order to advance the adults’ agenda is a flawed legislative strategy. It’s time they took the situation more seriously, because this could certainly affect outcomes.”
Got Agenda 21?
Feds Laugh & Applaud Theft of Private Land - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w97-_vq408g - 204k -
As we continue to watch with interest the experiment of Bitcoin.
If you had never heard about Bitcoin before, would you care about a payments network that:
•Couldn’t move your existing money
•Had wildly unpredictable fees that were high and rising fast
•Allowed buyers to take back payments they’d made after walking out of shops, by simply pressing a button (if you aren’t aware of this “feature” that’s because Bitcoin was only just changed to allow it)
•Is suffering large backlogs and flaky payments
•… which is controlled by China
•… and in which the companies and people building it were in open civil war?
I’m going to hazard a guess that the answer is no.”
So says key developer as he throws in the towel.
https://medium.com/@octskyward/the-resolution-of-the-bitcoin-experiment-dabb30201f7#.e4ne7dfsv
What rising fees? My transaction costs have been pennies on my transactions, or less.
Backlogs of flaky payments? My transactions are 100% confirmed on the sixth block. My debit card used at my grocery store works right as soon as I enter my PIN. I get the notice on my smartphone that the Shift transaction occurred before I leave the grocery store.
http://samuelrpatterson.com/line-by-line-response-to-wapo-r-i-p-bitcoin-article/
I have no idea. Maybe ask Mike Hearn. He is (was) the insider.
http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/20/bitcoin-is-not-dying/
Also reading that China is planning on rolling out it’s own official version. In that case, duck.
Anyone can mine bitcoin. Not worried.
BTW: “Official” version defeats the whole reason crypto currency was developed in the first place. I buy crypto currency precisely because it is not fiat.
With an official chinkcoin the next step is to make others illegal. There goes 85% of bit coin transactions. Buckle up.
With an official chinkcoin the next step is to make others illegal.
How could the ChiComs do that? With firewalls?
“How could the ChiComs do that? With firewalls?”
No one can stop me from creating a bitcoin wallet. It can be done without internet. I generate bitcoin wallets without internet. If you have an existing bitcoin account that is tied to internet you can send bitcoins to the paper wallets.
Once you do that the blockchain has all the info recorded forever on hundreds of thousands of nodes around the world. Cannot be undone.
Your wallet exists no matter what any government does. The BTC will be there for you.
They’d have to destroy the access to the bitcoin accounts that tie coin to fiat banks. But people can create more accounts.
Also people create mesh networks. That can be done in apartment buildings and neighborhoods easily. Those are private networks.
Mesh networking in my neighborhood is what I hope to promote.
Since Bitcoin is a Chinese game, and it is totally traceable, sure you can create blocks and meshes, but the Chinese players will not want to get their heads chopped off, so you should buckle up.
“I have no idea” - this is how lies become truth. People repeat what they hear and it is repeated often enough that most think it’s true.
I just got through posting an easy rebuttal on another blog. Someone made a statement that “someone on top of a network is making a lot of money off of Bitcoin buyers. Utter BS. My transaction fees I paid last year sum up to less than the cost of lunch. Far less.
Interesting that my cash does not require a rebuttal to have value.
Bill is just playing with Bitcoin. It’s just a pittance to keep his fantasies. He keeps his real money in real banks.
My rule is certainly diversification in savings and diversification in investments.
Savings being metals, fiat cash, crypto currency.
Invest,eats in bonds and stocks.
Real estate is neither savings nor investment.
the general theme I keep hearing is to stay fully invested. Didn’t they say that in the last crash?
You will never hear a stock peddler saying to sell.
I followed that advice in 2008 and kept dollar cost averaging in mutual funds. It worked well for me. For individual stocks, timing is everything. Bought 1700 shares ASGN for $2 per share in early 2009 and sold it in 2015 mostly for above $35
What about the losses?
No losses between 2008 and the end of 2015. Realized lots of gains. Moved some of my 401k stock funds to a conservative bond fund as well. Remember I was thinking two years ago, maybe three years ago the market was too high. So I was cautious since.
Be fearful when others are greedy.
Warmist Warming Thursday
Huffington Post real journalists report 2015 the hottest year in recorded history:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2015-hottest-year_us_568e9101e4b0a2b6fb6ef5eb?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
“We’re losing ice so fast, we soon won’t know what to put into our scotch.”
http://www.acting-man.com/?p=42725#more-42725
All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me, consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.
crushing.housing.losses.
Washington Park(Denver), CO Housing Prices Collapse 22% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/washington-park-denver-co/home-values/
If the debt was created out of thin air is it a sin if someone defaults?
Was there really a loss?
Banks need more philosophers.
All cultures are equal.
Diversity is our strength.
The FSA votes democrat/progressive. Therefore, all is good to import more FSA voters.
—————————–
German Govt Posters to Muslim refugees: ‘Please Don’t Poop In The showers’ Or Rape Our Women
Atlas Shrugs | January 20, 2016 | Pamela Geller
Cartoons, posters used in new anti-rape campaign
A poster in Germany demonstrates via cartoon image that men shouldn’t grope women.
In the wake of widespread sexual assaults on women during New Year’s Eve celebrations at choice spots in Germany, much of which was alleged to have been committed by recent refugees and migrants, the government has put out some alerts and warnings aimed at defraying future similar incidents - in the form of posters and cartoon pictures.
One such poster showed a cartoon of a bikini-clad woman, posing with her back toward the viewer. From the side panel and toward the woman’s bottom stretches an arm with ostensibly, a man’s hand, over which sits a bright red circle with a line drawn through the center. The accompanying text, below the picture in German, is a warning that in essence reads: “No grabbing the girls at the pool, please,” the Gateway Pundit reported.
A graphic shows an image of a person, drawn in black, standing beneath a shower head. Alongside is a similar image of another person squatting above a black, triangular shaped object. The accompanying text, in both German and English: “Please do not poop in the showers,” the Twitter image showed.
The purpose of these posters? “The new German state also uses cartoons to teach migrants not to rape,” the news blog reported.
‘A poster in Germany demonstrates via cartoon image that men shouldn’t grope women’.
Given the illiteracy rate in the Muslim world - this makes alot of sense. What doesn’t make sense is why (even in their socialist delusion) would a nation import all this illiteracy into a literate society?
Does this look lik ea healthy economy to you?
Daily job cuts from the last 3 days alone.
Yikes.
January 21, 2016
Southwestern Energy Co. - 1,100
Pearson Plc ( International ) - 4,000
Barclays - 1,000 Investment Bank Jobs Worldwide
Devon Energy Corp - Some Layoffs, No #
Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp Orlando - 250 ?
FanDuel - Reports of Layoffs, No #
East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court’s Office - 12
Update: United States Steel Corp. - 679 Temp Layoffs
January 20, 2016
Mondelez - Warns 277 Chicago Workers of Layoffs
New York Air Brake - 30
City of Raymondville TX - Layoffs Possible
Morgan Stanley to move Jobs to Cheaper Cities
January 19, 2016
Tiffany - Job Cuts, No #
Noble Corp. - 100 offshore Drilling Jobs
Yahoo - Staffers Fear 20-25% Layoff of its Workforce
Contractor KBR at Tronox Plant - 69
Potash Corp ( International ) - up to 430
CableLabs - 30
Johnson & Johnson - 3,000 in Device Division
Areva North America in Lynchburg - 50
“This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush
“In all 57 states” — obama
Just in….Shell fires 10,000
And so the saga goes. Not a healthy economy this makes…
https://beta.finance.yahoo.com/news/shell-fires-10-000-workers-093853687.html
Wow.
Bad news.
Washington Times (published by Unification Church, i.e. the Moonies) reports on authorizing military to bomb ISIS in Afghanistan in newest front in War On Terra:
http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/20/us-military-can-now-pursue-islamic-state-afghanist/
National debt is now twenty trillion dollars, remind me again of the strategic objective of this? Oh wait, there isn’t one. Neocons gonna neocon.
obama has controlled the US military for last seven years.
He is very good at killing people.
THIS:
“The Empire of Chaos has enough warmongering hardware pre-positioned within spitting distance to turn the whole of Southwest Asia into ashes – as a gaggle of usual suspects in the Beltway, neocon or neoliberalcon, still can’t find a cure to their itching to “really win the next war” in a sort of exponential Shock and Awe.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/21/planet-of-fear/
“obama has controlled the US military for last seven years.”
Obama and Hillary are neocons.
The corruption of the obama regime is breath taking.
And they should all be behind bars.
Anyone remember when obama refused to release documents on this citing “executive privilege” and congress recommended that Attorney General Holder be cited for contempt for failing to turn over documents relating to the Fast and Furious operation?
—————–
Come Talk To Me About Gun Control When….
Market Ticker - 1/21/2016
Everyone involved in Fast-N-Furious is behind bars doing hard federal time for blatant and outrageous violations of the existing set of gun laws.
A .50-caliber rifle found at Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s hideout in Mexico was funneled through the gun-smuggling investigation known as Fast and Furious, sources confirmed Tuesday to Fox News.
Got it folks?
We were selling all sorts of nice weapons to Mexican drug gangs and drug lords, knowingly, including it appears, Barretts.
But intentionally selling them to drug lords? C’mon folks. That’s just flat-out stupid, never mind being unlawful.
So why is it that Eric Holder and Obama are not both in prison? There is zero discussion that any American should be willing to have about any restrictions on ownership, sale or carrying of firearms until everyone involved in Fast-n-Furious, including Obama and Eric Holder, are in prison for violating the very laws that they are sworn to uphold.
Are we sure the gun didn’t come from Project Gunrunner, run during the Bush years?
DJIA = 16K OR BUST
STAY THE COURSE DANIEL SON!
11k AND bust
China is contained. Couldn’t you just puke?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-21/ben-bernanke-china-contained-ray-dalio-agrees
It seems there is a lot of pressure on their currency and they have to sell reserves to prop it up.
This onshore vs offshore yuan stuff gets a little fuzzy.
They had to print a sh@tload of money just to sell us stuff cheap. maybe that is catching up to them?
Hope and change is a’coming for dinner…
——————
5 Reasons Why America Is Headed to a Budget Crisis
Daily Signal | 1/19/2016 | Justin Bogle
1. Spending Continues to Skyrocket
CBO projects that spending will rise from $3.7 trillion in 2015 to $6.4 trillion in 2026; spending will exceed 23 percent of GDP in 2026 (2.8 percentage points above the 50-year historical average).
The largest drivers of growing spending are entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and Social Security.
Another concerning factor is growing interest on the debt. Spending on interest has climbed steadily over the past several years and could soon surpass what is spent on national defense and other priorities.
2. Deficits Will Again Rise to Unsustainable Levels
After a brief period of declining deficits over the past few years (reaching a six-year low of $466 billion last year), CBO projects that deficits will once again begin to rise for the first time since 2009 to reach trillion-dollar levels as soon as 2022 and approaching nearly $1.4 trillion by 2026.
It is important to note that the decrease of the past few years was a result not primarily of better policy by Washington, but rather of the winding down of excessive stimulus spending, the economy recovering from the 2008 recession, and tax increases imposed under President Barack Obama. Spending controls implemented by the Budget Control Act of 2011 helped some, too.
3. Our National Debt Will Soon Consume the Economy
Over the past 50 years, the federal debt has averaged 39 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). By the end of 2015, it had reached a whopping 74 percent of GDP, an increase of $337 billion compared to 2014. Over the next 10 years, CBO projects that figure to continue to rise and reach a sickening $23.8 trillion (86.1 percent of GDP) by 2026.DS-January-2016-CBO-report_final
4. Increased Revenues May Increase the Spending Problem
According to the report, over the next ten years, revenues will average 18.1 percent of GDP, 0.7 percent higher than the 50-year historical average. Increasing deficits and debt are being driven by too much spending, not too little taxation.
5. A Weak Labor Market Is Weighing Down the Economy
Over the 10-year period, this amounts to trillions of dollars in lost output and income for the U.S. economy and its workers.
Not to mention the fact social security has been running a deficit for 73 years. That’s right. 73 years.
http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/
That’s exactly where you need to be Poet.
Soylent Green is the solution.
you forgot the #1 reason: $6 trillion by 2053 for blowing up rocks.
Meanwhile, APPLE has $86 B in cash. The gov cant force them to hire you.
Darn you Obama! Reagan would never negotiate with Iran!
Sarah Palin’s son is an idiot, just like his mom.
http://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-palin-veterans-ptsd-track-arrest-2016-1
And so it begins….
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/george-soros-says-he-shorted-sp-500-went-long-us-treasurys-2016-01-21?link=MW_latest_news
Classic pump and dump by the smart money as usual. funny how everyone went bearish at the same time.
Lyrics for the day…..
Could this be why WPA checked out?
Eagles. Get Over It
I turn on the tube and what do I see
A whole lotta people cryin’ “Don’t blame me”
They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else
Spend all their time feelin’ sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your momma’s too thin; your daddy’s too fat
Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin’ and cryin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it
You say you haven’t been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, Old Billy was right
Let’s kill all the lawyers, kill ‘em tonight
You don’t want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn’t owe you a thing
Get over it
Get over it
If you don’t want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, Get over it
It’s like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You’re makin’ the most of your losin’ streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak
You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin’ everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I’d like to find your inner child and kick its little ass
Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin’ and moanin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it
Get over it
Get over it
It’s gotta stop sometime, so why don’t you quit
Get over it, get over it
That’ll be the message for you the next time that you complain about Rahm Emanuel. Get over it, rj!
Time for another hail mary from kuroda?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/bank-of-japan-gov-kuroda-bears-high-stakes-for-stimulus-1453358112
Retards R Us.
http://www.infowars.com/snowmaggedon2016-empty-store-shelves-as-panicked-shoppers-ransack-grocery-stores/
Trump accuses Cruz of being ‘worse than Hillary’
Donald Trump accused rival Ted Cruz of being “worse than Hillary,” telling an Iowa crowd that the Texas senator has been misleading the public about his Canadian birth and big loans he received from Wall Street.
“He said with him being a Canadian citizen, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that.’ How did he not know that?” Trump questioned. “Then he said with the loans, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that.’ Smart guy. He doesn’t know that? Yeah, that’s worse than Hillary, when you think about it.”
Trump, speaking at a rally in Norwalk, Iowa, said Cruz purposely opted not to disclose bank loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank. The billionaire businessman contrasted the nearly 100 pages of financial files he had to disclose with Cruz’s two bank loans — “that we know of,” he added.
“The problem is he didn’t do it purposely because what he wanted to do is say, ‘I will protect you from Goldman Sachs. I will protect you from Citibank, and I will protect you from the banks because I’m Robin Hood, and I’m this wonderful senator and I’m going to protect you from these banks,’” Trump said. “And then he’s borrowing from the banks. And, by the way, he’s got personal guarantees and he’s got low-interest loans. He’s got low-interest loans. They’re low interest, and now he’s going to go after Goldman Sachs? Doesn’t work that way. Goldman Sachs owns him. Remember that, folks. They own him.”
The Manhattan mogul argued that Cruz’s signature on the financial disclosure form in which he failed to list two major loans during his 2012 Senate campaign was “very strong” and urged Iowa voters to keep that in mind next month. The New York Times first reported on the letter Cruz sent to federal officials last Thursday acknowledging that he had not properly accounted for the source of the two loans.
“Very strong, that signature on the bottom,” he said. “You sign that, you got problems if you make mistakes. He didn’t put down two big banks loaning him money because he didn’t want you to see that. That’s a problem, OK? That’s a problem. And I think when you go to caucusyou should think about that problem, OK? You should think about it.”
Trump in recent weeks has raised the birther issue with respect to Cruz, who was born in Calgary, Canada, to an American-born mother. Though Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014, Trump called it “big stuff.”
“He was actually a Canadian citizen — if you think about this, he was a Canadian citizen while he was a United States senator,” Trump said. “He was a joint citizen of the United States and Canada, but how do you do that? And he said he didn’t know about it, which is interesting. He didn’t know about it.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/trump-cruz-worse-than-hillary-218018#ixzz3xvAEzQqs
I don’t care where he came from… he’s a greasy preacher that frightens people into voting for him so he can make them safe by slaughtering people on the other side of the planet.
He’s not fit to run a Dairy Queen.
+1 a greasy preacher
“Deutsche Bank Reports Titanic $7 Billion Annual Loss”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-21/these-are-extremely-poor-results-deutsche-bank-reports-titanic-7-billion-annual-loss
Of course this is dwarfed by losses associated with mortgages and housing.
Douche Bank’s derivatives exposure, I believe, is exceeded only by that of JP Morgan. When that blows up, it’s game over for the global financial system.
the banks are the biggest gamblers of them all.
“Of course this is dwarfed by losses associated with mortgages and housing.”
Yes, and all of these forthcoming losses will belong to Uncle Fed.
…. and anyone with a mortgage. Especially the suckers who signed up 2000-2015
deed in lieu solves a lot of problems.
Remember Poet….. Nothing accelerates the economy like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.
Best contrarian indicator yet that China is FUBAR.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-21/ben-bernanke-china-contained-ray-dalio-agrees
Policing for profit in our neo-feudal post-Constitution kleptocracy.
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/policing-for-profit-cops-claimed-couple-had-drugs-but-they-were-really-looking-for-cash_01202016
A wise man once said “It’s better to have drugs and no money than money and no drugs”
There’s only one candidate talking about jailing bankers…
I wonder what permabull will be wheeled out tomorrow? Fischer has been quiet for a week or so.
lol@Lola
http://goo.gl/F0dTOr
EPA Administrator Quits Amid Flint Water Crisis
by Tracy Connor and Phil Helsel
Jan 21 2016, 7:23 pm ET
The Environmental Protection Agency director overseeing a region that includes Flint, Michigan, is stepping down after contaminated water in that city exposed residents to lead poisoning.
EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman offered her resignation effective Feb. 1, and the offer was accepted, the EPA said in a statement Thursday.
I stopped by an appliance and parts store tonight for a dryer knob, and this older customer wanted to get home so he could watch Sean Hannity (FOX) interview women who did naughty things with Bill Clinton. This guy was vile. It blows my mind people watch all that angst porn. Isn’t life hard enough?
Clinton is vile indeed.
The Oligopoly and their media personalities sure do love their pedophillia, and of course they’re free to pursue their “conquests” with impunity, while the captured judiciary turns a blind eye.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3411568/Woman-groped-Jimmy-Savile-live-air-hits-abuse-review.html