Symptoms Of The Cause Of World Economic Bubbles
It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “With the stock market sliding and oil prices in the tank, homebuilders meeting in Las Vegas are trying to stay focused on the good news about their industry. But the plunge in securities prices and fretting about the economy have builders looking over their shoulders and whispering the ‘R’ word – recession. ‘We are on recession watch,’ economist Brad Hunter with housing analyst Metrostudy told a room full of builders. ‘We don’t see any immediate signs of a recession.’”
“David Crowe, chief economist with the National Association of Homebuilders, is worried that the recession talk could influence the economy if it continues. ‘I do fear that we could talk ourselves into it,’ Crowe said. ‘With this violent stock market behavior people start getting a little frightened. But I just do not see the catastrophe people are trying to make out of this,’ he said. ‘But if you get enough people worried about things, they stop buying cars and houses.’”
“Dean Martin scans a snowy, 75-acre site bordering the Boise River in Eagle and sees an ideal spot for luxury apartments with $900-per-month rents for one-bedroom units and $1,300 for three-bedrooms. Pacific Partners is part of a surge of apartment developers seeking to fill the void created when the Great Recession dried up apartment construction in the Treasure Valley. Few of the new apartments on the market are marketed to low-income tenants. Martin says he would like to develop projects in Boise and Meridian as well.”
“But he says such projects would have to come online in the next year — quickly in the developer world — before new apartments already under construction hit the market and sponge up the record-high demand for rentals. ‘Beyond projects currently being built or in planning — like ours — we’ll start to head to full capacity or oversupply,’ he says.”
“Look up at the New York City skyline — way up, 100 stories or so — and you can’t help but notice that the changes over the past few years have been remarkable. But now, the buying frenzy may officially be over. Last week the United States Treasury Department announced that it would begin closely monitoring all-cash sales of ultra-luxury condos in Manhattan and Miami for any sign of financial crimes such as money laundering. ‘It couldn’t come at a worse time,’ said Miami realty analyst Peter Zalewski. ‘The market’s starting to show signs of reaching a peak, supply is starting to outpace demand, and right now as foreign currency is plummeting against the dollar and buyers are hard to find, this is sure to be a death knell.’”
“The effects of FinCEN’s announcement won’t be felt for another few months, they say. But for Zalewski, the writing is on the wall. He said that there has long been speculation in the Miami market that of the billions of dollars in cash pouring into the real estate market there from overseas, some of it would be tied up with criminal enterprises. ‘There’s crazy stuff going on in this town fairly regularly,’ he said, recalling a story of Ukrainians trying to sell surface-to-air missiles at a Miami strip mall, ’so something probably happened that we’re not aware of. This is just one of the pitfalls and thorns of this community.’”
“Stockholm’s residents have been saying for years that house prices in the Swedish capital are far too high. Now, buyers are signaling they’ve had enough. After rising 17 percent over the past year, prices in central Stockholm fell 1 percent in the three months through December. ‘While it’s not the entire explanation, surely a lot of people believe that prices have risen too much,’ said Jens Magnusson, an economist at SEB. ‘It could partly be about psychology, that it doesn’t feel good to take the big loans required, but also about reality,’ namely of reaching one’s limit at the bank.”
“‘If you’re convinced that the property deal you’re about to do will be profitable, you’ll be prepared to enter with a lot of money and big loans,’ Magnusson said. ‘If you’re less sure, you don’t want to go in with as much money and will be prepared to pay less for the same object.’ The upshot is that household expectations ‘become self-fulfilling and the more people who believe in falling prices, the more likely it is that that is what will happen.’”
“New home sales have fallen to their lowest level in more than a year, dropping for the third month in a row, according to Housing Industry Association figures. Sales fell 2.7 per cent in November, according to the latest data, pushed lower by a 15.1 per cent fall in apartment purchases. HIA chief economist Harley Dale blamed the fall on ‘a confluence of factors.’ ‘The lagged effect of slowing population growth, an uptick in variable mortgage costs, overreach on the part of APRA’s credit controls, and an easing in property price growth in Sydney and Melbourne are all in play,’ he said.”
“Others, including CLSA analysts, have suggested a ’sharp pullback’ in Chinese buyer demand could translate into weaker apartment demand and lower dwelling approvals.”
“In August 2014, when the housing market here was on a tear, a two-bedroom condominium in one of the most expensive neighborhoods went up for sale at £3.25 million ($4.64 million), a 67% premium to its purchase price six months earlier. Now, demand is slowing not just in London, but in prime housing markets around the world. Luxury housing in London became one of the world’s hottest assets. But ‘the frenzy is gone completely,’ said Manish Chande, senior partner at U.K. real-estate firm Clearbell Capital LLC. About 18 months ago ‘everything was going like hot cakes. Today it’s the total opposite,’ Mr. Chande said.”
“Since the late 1990s, I’ve been amused and intrigued by the striking correlation between world’s-tallest-building projects and economic woes. It was the completion of Malaysia’s Petronas Towers coinciding with the 1997 Asian crisis that first hooked me. That followed similar links in 1970s New York and Chicago, where the World Trade Center and Sears Tower were completed amid fiscal crises, stagflation and the breakdown of the Bretton Woods monetary system.”
“According to the council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the world just reached the 100 super-tall-skyscraper mark (defined as buildings 300 meters and higher). Most interesting is how quickly the projects are popping up –- both literally and figuratively. It took 80 years to get to the first 50 super-tall buildings from 1930 to 2010, but just five years to add the next 50. The next 50 of the future could be completed in even less time. What does this say about the state of the global economy today and where it might be heading?”
“‘Of course, the building of record-setting skyscrapers does not cause world economic crisis,’ explains Mark Thornton of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, which espouses the Austrian school of economics. ‘The records are merely symptoms of the underlying cause of world economic bubbles: sustained artificially low interest rates by central banks.’”
Opinion: Italy could trigger Europe’s next financial crisis
By Stratfor analysts
Published: Jan 21, 2016 11:50 a.m. ET
Italy’s Monte dei Paschi bank is on the brink of failure
LaPresse
Monte dei Paschi CEO Fabrizio Viola has asked the Italian government for a lifeline after the bank’s stock fell by half this year.
As the world’s political and business leaders network at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the crisp Alpine air is not the only thing giving them the shivers.
Since the new year, pre-eminent economists have lined up to pronounce 2016 the riskiest year for financial markets since 2008.
China’s economic slowdown is overlapping with greater geopolitical risks around the globe. China’s foreign exchange reserve figures released at the start of the month revealed the extent of the country’s battle with capital outflows, now estimated at $676 billion over the course of 2015. Emerging markets, formerly Davos darlings, are now struggling with China’s slowdown and the low price of oil, a commodity the sale of which has kept many of them afloat.
…
“Since the new year, pre-eminent economists have lined up to pronounce 2016 the riskiest year for financial markets since 2008.”
It’s a bit risky out there for our systemically important clients. They may need another round of bailouts any day now, or else the entire global financial economy could collapse.
The interesting question is, who among the leading American presidential contenders would sign a bill bailing them out? Hillary would, no question. Rubio would. Cruz, can’t tell. Trump, I’m guessing no. Sanders, possibly no, but he would be severely pressured by his party. I think Congress as a whole would pass something, because sufficient members of the institution, regardless of political affiliation, are craven and beholden to banks. Maybe the Fed would act on its own volition, because the Fed isn’t politically accountable to citizens.
the biggest failure was in 2008 was bailing out AIG instead of CIT
cit provided small loans advance payments on receivables to small businesses and letters of credit to the shipping co. when that froze up all helll broke loose
“Cruz, can’t tell.”
Hmmmmm…
January 14, 2016
Ted Cruz’s Goldman Sachs Problem
By John Cassidy
The Times recently discovered that the Presidential candidate Ted Cruz failed to disclose a loan from Goldman Sachs that helped to fund his first Senate bid.
Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, likes to portray himself as the straight-talking, shit-kicking, anti-establishment type. Last summer, when he was languishing in the G.O.P. primary polls, he went to the Heritage Foundation, in D.C., up the street from Union Station, and declared war on the “Washington cartel”—a cozy club of big banks, major corporations, and shadowy lobbyists that, he claimed, was quietly pulling the strings in the nation’s capital. “It operates like OPEC,” Cruz said, according to a report at Fortune.com. “I don’t know, like sheikhs, if they actually wear robes. But they nonetheless on a daily basis are conspiring against the American people.”
As Cruz’s insurgent campaign started making progress in the polls, he frequently zeroed in on the big Wall Street banks and the taxpayer-financed bailouts they received in 2008. During a televised debate that took place in November, he suggested that he would be willing to let a huge institution such as Bank of America go bankrupt, and he clashed with Ohio’s governor, John Kasich, a former managing director at Lehman Brothers, saying, “Why would you then bail out rich Wall Street banks and not Mom and Pop?”
…
Donald Trump is OWNED by Every Bank on Wall Street
Posted by Leon H. Wolf on January 22, 2016 at 9:15 am
Goldman Sachs once gave Ted Cruz’s campaign a $1.43 million loan. His campaign also got a loan of less than $500,000 from Citibank. According to Donald Trump, in a claim that has been repeated roughly a billion times, that means THEY OWN HIM. Even though, as far as I can tell, all or part of these loans have been repaid.
As I reported yesterday, at various times Donald Trump has had hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from Citibank and Goldman, some of which have been repaid, some of which were discharged in bankruptcy when Trump’s Altantic City casino went belly up. By Trump’s own standard, Citibank and Goldman own him, too.
But of course, it’s much worse than that for Trump. As a twitter user pointed out, according to Trump’s most recent financial disclosures, he has hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from virtually every bank on Wall Street. Here is a copy of the form.
…
Your post really put my BS detector into hyperdrive.
China Is Not Contained” Credit Market Screams
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-21/china-not-contained-credit-market-screams
“David Crowe, chief economist with the National Association of Homebuilders, is worried that the recession talk could influence the economy if it continues. ‘I do fear that we could talk ourselves into it,’ Crowe said.”
Psst… it’s the prices Dave.
“Psst… it’s the prices Dave.”
Prices that are so high that, for most people, it takes decades to finish paying for them.
Not to worry: God sent bankers to earth so as to MAKE IT HAPPEN!
‘The holder of the $30 million mortgage on two Watertown apartment complexes and another in the village of Clayton has filed foreclosure proceedings. The owner also blamed “soft economic conditions” in Watertown last year that “led to a significant decrease in occupancy,” the press release said. “This was the main factor in the owner being unable to refinance the property and pay off the loan,” the press release said.’
‘City Assessor Brian S. Phelps has been bracing for some bad news after finding out a couple of months ago that some larger apartment complexes could face financial risk because Watertown’s rental housing market took such a dip during the past 18 months as a result of a building boom a few years ago.’
‘But Mr. Phelps said he was unaware that foreclosure proceedings began on the three properties. “I’m a little surprised by it, that they can’t make a go of it,” Mr. Phelps said.’
‘In December, he learned vacancy rates at some larger multi-family rental properties in Watertown soared to about 20 percent over the past 18 months. Prior to the rental building boom, vacancy rates typically stayed around 2 or 3 percent.’
From the comments:
‘I’ve owned the same handful of rental properties in the county for nearly two decades. I keep them well and have had nearly 100% occupancy since my first purchase. My tenants could never afford to lease these “fancy” apartments. I take care of my properties and tenants for a much lower amount than the market can bear, with no regrets.’
‘All said, I see ZERO need for new housing and plan to buy no more in the area.’
Watertown apartment complexes…
Fort Drum and Canadian Big Box shoppers. What else is Watertown for? The town couldn’t even support two grocery stores.
The busloads of Canadians on a shopping spree are rare these days. The Loonie will no longer buy much this side of the border.
‘the world just reached the 100 super-tall-skyscraper mark (defined as buildings 300 meters and higher). Most interesting is how quickly the projects are popping up –- both literally and figuratively. It took 80 years to get to the first 50 super-tall buildings from 1930 to 2010, but just five years to add the next 50. The next 50 of the future could be completed in even less time’
QE looking for a place to die.
And what better place for QE to die, as today’s dying skyscraper is tomorrow’s demolishion, cleanup and urban renewal stimulus project.
It does seem like loose credit provides the tinder for megalomania. I’m still hoping to hear from someone, anywhere, who lives more than 40 stories up.
That is an excellent article. Another excerpt:
“The pride, global ambition and unlimited credit that often drive such one-upmanship make for a dangerous economic mix. This irrational use of public resources results in overcapacity, off-the-charts asset valuations and creates a top-down policy ethos that fools investors into believing nothing could go wrong. Look, we’re human. So impressed are we with construction crews reaching into the heavens that we forget it tends to be a metaphor for financial overreach.
Not surprisingly, a critical mass of today’s architectural vanity projects is in China and oil-rich Gulf states.”
‘It could partly be about psychology, that it doesn’t feel good to take the big loans required, but also about reality,’ namely of reaching one’s limit at the bank…‘If you’re convinced that the property deal you’re about to do will be profitable, you’ll be prepared to enter with a lot of money and big loans’
You said a mouthful there Jens.
These linguistic gyrations are absolutely priceless.
“These linguistic gyrations are absolutely priceless.”
And powerful; They can even convert cans of sh1t into art.
An example of what I mean, from The Grilled Cheese Truck website:
“Inspiration happens when you least expect it! What started as a fun, weekend activity to enter our Cheesy Mac and Rib Melt into LA’s 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational quickly became the idea behind The Grilled Cheese Truck. After seeing the masses of grilled cheese fanatics gathered to pay homage to our favorite childhood (and adult!) comfort food, we realized that this world needed more grilled cheese sandwiches brought to the streets. Not just the classic bread, butter and cheese, but amazing creations that are constructed with the best ingredients, local produce and made with nothing but love.
“We look forward to making your hearts melt with all of our cheesy goodness.”
From the Vice article:
‘Over the past five years, a luxury housing boom in the city saw private developers scrambling to erect skyscrapers as tall as 100 stories with $100 million penthouses towering over the city’s Central Park and Midtown neighborhoods, creating a new mini-neighborhood known as “Billionaire’s Row.”
‘The media has breathlessly reported on the often-anonymous foreign buyers allegedly driving the boom, including Russian and Chinese billionaires who leave their apartments vacant for much of the year as if they were merely “safety deposit boxes in the sky,” according to New York real estate analyst Jonathan Miller.’
‘Miller estimated that at the peak of the New York luxury apartments trend, 40 percent of buyers were foreign, mainly Chinese. That number has already dwindled to 30 percent, and will likely continue to fall, he said. The majority of buyers, he said, have always been domestic. The new regulations are primarily “targeted toward all-cash buyers from outside the country,” he claimed, “but their participation has already slowed.”
“We’re starting to see an oversupply of really large units and really expensive units, and we think those are sitting on the market,” David Von Spreckelsen of builder Toll Brothers Inc. told Bloomberg nearly six months ago.’
‘Stephen Roth, the CEO of luxury developer Vornado Realty, said nearly a year ago that condos targeting the ultra-wealthy were at risk of being overbuilt. Both companies have moved their focus to the next tier of wealthy buyers: domestic millionaires who are looking to spend between $1 million and $15 million on a condo. Those transactions will be excluded from the federal government’s new rules.’
‘The spree of high-priced sales from 2011 through 2013 reflected a new product coming to the market that was hard for consumers to get, Miller said. Developments in engineering over the past decade allowed residential towers to be built extremely high on narrow, small lots in ways they hadn’t before, offering better views to buyers. As each tower went up, a scramble ensued by interested buyers who wanted the new product.’
‘Now that many of the ultra-rich have had the chance to purchase the ultra-luxury new products, and there are still more becoming available – Miller estimated that more than 5,000 units became available in 2015 and another 5,000 will become available in 2016 — the demand has slowed.’
“The appearance of this frenzy was happening because there was a lot less inventory so people were having to purchase very quickly,” Pacey Barron, a broker to high-end buyers at Douglas Elliman, said. “Now that’s leveling out. There’s more inventory, especially in new development, so people can look at multiple things.”
Funny how people living in these things is hardly mentioned. And boy oh boy, all this media attention to money laundering.
Things have gotten so insane that I worry about parts of NYC turning into Venice, Italy. A place where no locals actually live there, aside from a new holdovers in rent regulated buildings, and everyone you see on the street has to commute in from somewhere else.
‘On a recent trip to Geneva, I was chatting with a local resident when he told me that the watch industry has been suffering. Sales of Swiss watches were down, he said, and he offered a fascinating explanation: over the last few years, the government of China has instituted a broad crackdown on official corruption—and particularly on the giving, or receiving, of extravagant gifts. As a case study in the butterfly effect of international graft, it seemed almost too neat to believe. But it’s true. In fact, the whole luxury sector was affected by the regulations, from designer handbags to high-end spirits. Last year, when consultants from Deloitte surveyed Swiss watch executives, eighty per cent of them indicated that demand was down “due to anti-corruption legislation” in China.’
‘This question of how one country’s graft might fuel the economy of another arose again last week, when the U.S. Treasury Department announced an initiative to track the secret buyers behind the trade in luxury properties in New York City. It is a truism, at this point, to observe that financiers and deep-pocketed foreigners are remolding Manhattan into a gilded citadel.’
‘For many New Yorkers, this is not, in fact, a godsend: exorbitant prices in the tens of millions of dollars pull up prices in the lower end of the market, driving working- and middle-class people out of the city. And as a contemporary Jane Jacobs might observe, had she not been priced out of the West Village, billionaires don’t necessarily make good neighbors. Because luxe Manhattan real estate generates a good return, many people don’t actually live in their investment properties. If they’re not residents, they’re paying no local income tax here, and because of a steep tax abatement on certain luxury properties, they can often pay very little in real-estate taxes. (According to the Times, the annual taxes on a unit that sold for a hundred million dollars recently come to about twenty thousand dollars.)’
‘On the upside, you won’t actually see these neighbors very often—because they aren’t here. According to the Census Bureau, throughout a sweeping stretch of midtown—from Forty-ninth to Seventieth streets, between Fifth Avenue and Park—nearly one in three apartments is completely empty at least ten months a year. In a revealing 2014 New York piece, which observed that real-estate ownership in the city “can be made as untraceable as a numbered bank account,” a developer concludes, “The global elite is basically looking for a safe-deposit box.”
‘Increasingly, transactions for high-end properties are done in cash, using shell companies and limited-liability corporations—a web of legal obfuscation that can make the individual who paid for a property virtually impossible to identify. (This tactic is not unique to New York. Last year, Ed Caesar wrote a fascinating piece for the magazine about his efforts to track down the owner of the most expensive mansion in London.)’
‘It is a bit surprising to find so little transparency in the real-estate market, in light of the great vogue, since the terror attacks of 2001, for cracking down on dirty money. Efforts to track the finances of terror groups, and of corrupt foreign leaders, have led to a dramatic expansion in government scrutiny of other professional sectors. The U.S. government has also cracked down on the Swiss banking industry, in order to curb the use of secret accounts for tax evasion. As it happens, the U.S.A. Patriot Act originally contained a provision that would have required brokers and other professionals who were involved in real-estate transactions to perform due diligence on their customers—but after intense lobbying by the real-estate industry, that provision was dropped.’
‘Today, while banks are obliged to institute “know-your-customer” safeguards against money laundering, real-estate professionals are not. “Sometimes they come in with wires. Sometimes they come in with suitcases,” one broker who caters to foreign buyers told New York. In the Times series, a former manager of the Time Warner center said, “The building doesn’t know where the money is coming from. We’re not interested.”
Some of these articles go to lengths to say, “most of the money is legit”. OK, so legit money is being gambled on these air boxes too, hoping for a big Chinese payout. What about housing dummies? Is the fact that they are way too expensive and way too many of them lost on you? All this construction, and where are people going to live? Jeebus, for years we’re told about “safe-deposit boxes in the sky” - what about places to live?
‘First-time homebuyers are finally jumping into the U.S. property market. Need proof? Look at the mortgage market’s fastest-growing segment: loans with low down payments insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Originations of FHA-backed mortgages, used predominately by first-time buyers, were up 54 percent in September from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from CoreLogic Inc. By December, the FHA insured 22 percent of all loan originations, up from 17 percent a year earlier, according to data compiled by Ellie Mae Inc.’
‘President Barack Obama’s administration, in January 2015, reduced mortgage-insurance premiums for FHA loans. That lowered the cost of getting a home loan and brought in at least 75,000 new borrowers with credit scores of less than 680, according to a November report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.’
‘The rate of FHA lending, which had been in decline through most of 2014, tripled the month after the insurance premium was cut, according to CoreLogic.’
This bubble was deflating at the end of 2014, then took right off. Lower credit scores, lower down-payments. So where are the sad panda criticisms of throwing low income people under the housing bubble bus?
And of course a recession might do these lucky first timers in:
‘World stock market losses are approaching $8 trillion so far this year and investors last week poured the most money into government bond funds in a year, suggesting they fear the global economy could tip into recession, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday.’
‘The bank’s U.S. economists also said on Friday that the likelihood of the world’s largest economy entering a recession in the coming year has risen to 20 percent from 15 percent. “We cannot rule out a recession in the next year. Accidents will happen, and we are concerned about the lack of policy ammunition to deal with a major shock,” economists Ethan Harris and Emanuella Enenajor said in a note on Friday.’
“However, when markets are in such a fragile state there is a temptation to lose sight of the economic fundamentals. To us, the economy is okay and recession risks are low,” they said.’
‘A recession is typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. The U.S. economy ground to a virtual standstill in the fourth quarter of last year, according to many estimates, and the manufacturing sector is already in recession.’
Recession happen every few years Ethan, it’s no accident. It’s the business cycle.
“We cannot rule out a recession in the next year. Accidents will happen, and we are concerned about the lack of policy ammunition to deal with a major shock,”
I guess he doesn’t know about QE4 or NIRP.
‘World stock market losses are approaching $8 trillion so far this year and investors last week poured the most money into government bond funds in a year, suggesting they fear the global economy could tip into recession, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday.’
Hopefully no U.S. prospective U.S. homebuyers were counting on using their stock market gains to fund a downpayment.
The upside is that all that money pouring into government bonds suppresses interest rates, reducing mortgage costs.
‘Hopefully no U.S. prospective U.S. homebuyers were counting on using their stock market gains to fund a downpayment’
As the Swedish guy said, what they are counting on is a profit from the house.
“According to the Times, the annual taxes on a unit that sold for a hundred million dollars recently come to about twenty thousand dollars.”
There are plenty of homes selling for $500,000 in my area with tax bills exceeding $20k. My only question is, which homebuyer, the $500k or $100MM, is getting ripped off more?
‘For the time being, criminals, corrupt foreign officials, and businesspeople whose work exists in a legal gray area can ostensibly launder their money into high-end real estate, Keefe explains. These owners seldom live in New York, and having a place to live is at best a secondary reason for them buying a midtown apartment.’
‘But the Census Bureau’s statistic doesn’t just suggest a connection between absenteeism and the ability to anonymously purchase real estate. More generally, it shows how shockingly little high-end Manhattan real estate ownership has to do with actually having a place to live.’
‘For nearly a third of owners, the benefits of ownership have apparently little do with the the apartments themselves. New York is perhaps the US’s most important city both economically and culturally. But a staggering amount of real estate in the city’s center is serving essentially the same purpose as an investment in just about any other scarce commodity.’
‘But a staggering amount of real estate in the city’s center is serving essentially the same purpose as an investment in just about any other scarce commodity.’
What purpose does an investment in a scarce commodity normally serve?
Eventually it serves to reveal that “scarcity” was an illusion.
I posted this two days ago:
“Yesterday I was listening to this guy on the radio. He has been saying the market was headed down for a while. He said support was at 1830 on the S&P 500.”
Day’s Range: 1,812.29 - 1,876.18
“So it bounced at 1812 and went up. He said it should go up 5% from the support before the next leg down. It ended at 1859, retracting 2.59% from the low already. If this 5% is right should go up 43 points from here and turn down.”
It just hit the 5% increase from that intra-day low:
S&P 500 (^GSPC) -SNP
1,902.48 Up 33.49(1.79%) 9:55AM EST
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=^gspc
It’s perfectly normal for an index to rise 5% in less than three days, I’m sure.
S&P 500 (^GSPC) -SNP
1,893.14 Up 24.15(1.29%) 11:42AM EST
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=^gspc
Day’s Range: 1,877.40 - 1,906.90
I had calculated the 5% move to 1902. Is another big slide ahead? Will it close above the intra-day high of 1906.7?
Here’s another one I’m following:
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) -NYSE
9.49 Down 0.23(2.37%) 11:48AM EST
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rig
Prev Close: 9.08
Day’s Range: 9.48 - 10.40
That’s a 14.5% jump from the previous close. Gave most of it back with oil futures up 6%.
It took out the high a few minutes ago:
Day’s Range: 1,877.40 - 1,908.85
Now falling:
S&P 500 (^GSPC) -SNP
1,905.24 Up 36.25(1.94%) 2:23PM EST
The last hour on Friday lets you know what the institutions are up to.
“Last week the United States Treasury Department announced that it would begin closely monitoring all-cash sales of ultra-luxury condos in Manhattan and Miami for any sign of financial crimes such as money laundering. ‘It couldn’t come at a worse time,’ said Miami realty analyst Peter Zalewski. ‘The market’s starting to show signs of reaching a peak, supply is starting to outpace demand, and right now as foreign currency is plummeting against the dollar and buyers are hard to find, this is sure to be a death knell.’”
________________________________/
There’s never a bad time to enforce the law you #^&*@^) bozo. And that goes for DoJ and the SEC too.
Ponzi….
Darn realtors…..
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/36080-utah-real-estate-company-charged-with-operating-28-million-ponzi-scheme
‘As it happens, the U.S.A. Patriot Act originally contained a provision that would have required brokers and other professionals who were involved in real-estate transactions to perform due diligence on their customers—but after intense lobbying by the real-estate industry, that provision was dropped.’
“The End Of The Luxury Housing Boom: US Treasury Launches Crack Down On Secret Buyers Of Luxury Real Estate”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-13/end-luxury-housing-boom-us-treasury-launches-crack-down-secret-buyers-luxury-real-es
new homes surge
=a bad HA day
Are you sure?
Oakton, VA Housing Prices Crater 13% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/oakton-va-22124/home-values/
Not quite, more new homes today will lead to lower prices tomorrow.
Buy today and be priced out of paying off debt FOREVER.
Lower highs, lower lows. A nice trip down the 10 story stairwell.
Bank of Canada Lawsuit
http://www.watershedsentinel.ca/content/bank-canada-lawsuit
“It’s those “pools of capital” – including Wall Street titans like Goldman Sachs – that are set to profit handsomely from Canada’s new infrastructure lending and spending spree”
Goldman Sachs packing Canadian fudge will be great for international relations.
“If You Don’t Conform To The Crowd Now - You’re A “Radical”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-22/if-you-dont-conform-crowd-now-youre-radical
“They’ve spiked the punch bowl with so many lies. Home prices always go up. The debt doesn’t matter because we owe it to ourselves. We can always print more money.”
It’s an even larger problem when one acts on the lies.