We Are Certain Of Uncertainty
The Indy Star reports from Indiana. “Tyler and Brenda Ewigleben found out firsthand how competitive the Indianapolis-area housing market is when they decided to buy their first home this spring. When they found a house they liked, they knew their initial offer on the two-bedroom ranch with a loft would have to blow away the seller. ‘The home we ended up purchasing,’ Tyler said, “we actually offered $10,000 over the asking price because we were aware of multiple offers. We felt like we had to if we wanted our offer to be taken seriously.’”
“Real estate agents say homes are selling now as fast as they have seen in their careers. Sales close within days, and sometimes hours, of homes being listed. Last year, competitive interest rates, job growth and a loosening of lending standards spurred the strongest growth in the region since 2006, according to the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors. The run on homes has left hopeful buyers scrambling to compete amid a shrinking supply. This has led to historically high prices. The market has not been this robust since it peaked a decade ago.”
KGH in Oregon. “In a new report from Christie’s International Real Estate, Portland comes in at number 8 on a list of the world’s hottest luxury housing markets. There are a number of multi-million dollar homes on the market, but they may not stay available for long. So who’s buying? Terry Sprague, the Founder of Luxe Platinum Properties, said in the last few months, he’s already done $10-15 million in sales. International buyers made up about 70 percent of that. ‘They’re actually specifically advertising our properties to their billionaires in China right now,’ he said.”
“Overseas buyers are buying homes for all sorts of reasons. Some want to live Oregon, others want to have a vacation home, and still others want an investment they think will go up in value. ‘Real estate is becoming a new currency,’ Sprague said. The rest of the luxury home buyers are often younger, successful people who many times have a well-paying tech job. The report points out that Portland is attracting entrepreneurs and highly paid workers from Silicon Valley. ‘Most recently I had two-million dollar, three-million dollar properties that have sold to 25, 30 years olds,’ he said.”
Fox 10 Phoenix in Arizona. “If you’ve looked for an apartment recently, you know that the cost of rent has increased significantly. In some areas, the average has jumped hundreds of dollars. The luxury market appears to be driving steep increases. And more high-end apartments are on the way. The Arizona Multi-Housing Association counts more than 11,500 apartments under construction or planned east of the I-17, only about 500 would be considered affordable.”
“In downtown Phoenix, the building boom is evident on nearly every corner. Large luxury buildings are popping up on long-vacant lots, and the rental prices are climbing fast. A two bedroom at the Cityscape Residences in downtown Phoenix with its picture windows and birds eye view of the city will set you back almost $2,200. Big investors hope to cash in. Downtown Phoenix will soon have hundreds more luxury apartments charging for top dollar rents. Rents that are forecasted to rise and show no sign of slowing down.”
The News Press in Florida. “Optimism persists in Southwest Florida’s new housing market, but a close examination of the facts foreshadows a hint of caution. We’re all seeing it and hearing it, but many just don’t want to admit it,. The most accurate forecast is that we are certain of uncertainty. Building permits for new housing in Southwest Florida were down by nearly 20 percent in the first quarter 2016 compared with 2015, the first substantial, first quarter decline in seven years. Much of the decline was due to fewer multi-family units permitted in Lee County.”
“The secondary, discretionary market appears to be slowing down, particularly from retirees purchasing second homes. Builders are starting to accumulate dozens of unsold new home inventory, primarily those priced over $500,000 in Naples. For example, a lot of speculative building has occurred in The Moorings west of US 41 near downtown Naples. Those homes in the $3-$4 million range are currently sitting unsold.”
The New Canaan Advertiser in Connecticut. “The signs are everywhere. Literally. These days you can’t drive on most New Canaan roads of any length without seeing ‘For Sale By Broker’ signs advertising the availability of the homes they front. The current inventory oversupply, and most realtors admit there is one, may be due to pricing. Everyone wants to make a big profit when selling, but timing, as they say, is everything. But price rules.”
“Selling for what you paid, or even for less than you paid, is reality for a lot of homeowners who bought within the last 10 years. It’s a hard thing to accept, for sure, and judging by all the for-sale signs planted in front yards, a lot of owners haven’t gotten there yet. New Canaan has always been a AAA-rated, much sought after destination for families. But at least right now, there is no for-sure happy ending, either for the residential real estate market or for this editorial.”
WSB TV in Georgia. “A local banker is blowing the whistle about what he calls improper dealings in a metro subdivision. One official told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Jim Strickland that on the surface, it smacks of the housing crisis all over again. Defaults on big-dollar loans made on overpriced houses helped trigger the foreclosure crisis eight years ago. In a new Forsyth County subdivision, new homeowner John Laymac says he fears he and his neighbors could fall into the same trap.”
“Laymac is a loan officer, and was days away from closing on his $390,000 home. Then, an appraiser figured the value at only $365,000. Because of that, the bank where Laymac works denied his mortgage. ‘They were doing what a bank is supposed to do. They were setting the loan amount based on the correct valuation,’ Laymac said.”
“Laymac showed Strickland an email from his builder. ‘And he said, ‘I want you to go with my preferred lender, Brand Mortgage. They’ve never had a problem getting the value needed,’ he said.”
“In a filing with federal regulators, Brand Mortgage admits it has partial ownership of its own appraisal firm, Valuation Management Group. VMG dispatched a different appraiser. ‘And they came back with a value $25,000 higher than the original appraisal. The same as the sale price, coincidentally,’ Laymac said. Laymac told Strickland his kids faced immediate disenrollment from their Forsyth school if he failed to buy a house. He chose to close and pay extra. ‘Twenty-five thousand dollars. Extrapolate that over 30 years, close to $50,000,’ he said.”
“The builder, SR Homes, and Brand Mortgage refused on-camera interviews, but denied any wrongdoing. Valuation Management Group and the two appraisers wouldn’t talk to Strickland. So Strickland called 30-year veteran appraiser Beryl Tylar to look at each appraisal. She noticed the square footage and more. ‘The reason, in my opinion, that there is such a big variation in the two bottom lines is because of the comp selection, and that is a biggie in appraising,’ Tylar said.”
“The higher appraisal uses a comp sale of a home that costs $80,000 more than Laymac’s. She said there was an entire subdivision of more appropriate comps. ‘Personally, I would not have used it,’ Tylar told Strickland. Tyler added that the paperwork looks suspicious, but is not proof the appraisal Brand Mortgage received was wrongly inflated. ‘It doesn’t have to be an impropriety. The appearance of impropriety sometimes is enough,’ Tylar said. ”
“Laymac said he’s not the only one affected because his home is now a comp sale. Standard and Poor’s reports Atlanta metro home prices since November are up just 0.3 percent. But real estate listings for Layman’s neighborhood show since his closing, five-bed, four-bath home prices are up 7 percent. ‘So, yeah, it ripples through the entire neighborhood,’ said Laymac.”
‘Laymac showed Strickland an email from his builder. ‘And he said, ‘I want you to go with my preferred lender, Brand Mortgage. They’ve never had a problem getting the value needed’
The first mortgage fraud I came across in 2005 was Beazers’ shop in North Carolina.
This is the headline for the last link (close your eyes Jingle).
“Inflated numbers: Are builders, lenders and appraisers working together?”
“Inflated numbers: Are builders, lenders and appraisers working together?”
Wouldn’t this constitute price fixing, which is illegal under the Sherman Antitrust Act?
“Inflated numbers: Are builders, lenders and appraisers working together?”
So what if they are? Who is there to go against the idea?
The seller? Bahahahaha the seller wants to get the highest price that he can get.
The brokers? The guys who work for commissions? Bahahahaha. The higher the prices the greater the commissions.
How about the tax assessors? Inflated numbers means higher appraisals.
And then there’s the buyers, yeah these are the guys that should balk at inflated numbers but - guess what? - THEY DON’T! They don’t because the inflated numbers represents a price rise and the price rise is what draws them in to buy.
Not only that, it forms the new comps:
‘real estate listings for Layman’s neighborhood show since his closing, five-bed, four-bath home prices are up 7 percent. ‘So, yeah, it ripples through the entire neighborhood,’
“Not only that, it forms the new comps:”
Which raises wealth for entire neighborhoods. Does anyone here think that these neighbors would go against the idea of having inflated numbers?
Inflated numbers translates into thousands of financial geniuses.
Next up: The Teachings and The Wisdom of David Lereah and his famous “No Dollar Escapes Equity Cash-out Program”.
‘Inflated numbers translates into thousands of financial geniuses’
Jingle’s order up:
Jingle_Fraud will never admit fraud.
What jingle doesn’t get is what attracts fraud; fast moving prices. It doesn’t matter if it’s penny stocks or art work. If regulators are going to turn a blind eye to double digit increases in houses prices, for years, who’s going to notice a 7% bump in one Atlanta suburb? It only surfaces after the fact when things go wrong.
Years ago in Phoenix, there were REIC people who would say, “who cares if there’s fraud? It’s never going to stop going up anyway.”
“Inflated numbers: Are builders, lenders and appraisers working together?”
Once again…. follow the envelope trail.
MAI = “Made as Instructed”
Rental Watch= “Sketchy Gyrations”
I ran into something similar four years ago when I held my nose and made an offer on a flip because the location was ideal. The flipper legally could not require me to use his favored mortgage company but COULD require me to be approved by them. They also tried to force me to use their title company. A quick Google search revealed that both had been fined millions for illegal kickbacks, etc. AND were incompetent to boot. The counter offer also had a clause stating that I would be fined about $100/day (IIRC) if the deal did not close in 30 days using THEIR sleazy and inept providers…
My apartment complex started offering a ‘benefit’ to renters last year: we could sign up for a some kind of account they were sponsoring where they would put a % of our rent paid which we could then use towards the purchase of a house.
AFAIR, the fine print specified what real estate firm and mortgage broker you had to use to take advantage of this program, all of which I’m sure they have a financial relationship with. I didn’t spend any time looking into it other than reading the paper they tacked to my door, but it smelled fraudulent to me.
‘The Arizona Multi-Housing Association counts more than 11,500 apartments under construction or planned east of the I-17, only about 500 would be considered affordable.’
‘Builders are starting to accumulate dozens of unsold new home inventory, primarily those priced over $500,000 in Naples. For example, a lot of speculative building has occurred in The Moorings west of US 41 near downtown Naples. Those homes in the $3-$4 million range are currently sitting unsold’
Formerly the hottest market in Florida and one of the hottest in the entire US.
Here’s the “build your way out of the bubble” model at work. People who bought 6 months ago are screwed already. Then it’ll be a year ago, then everybody. Money is lost on the builder, his contractors, who stiff their vendors and down it goes. Key get mailed in. Boy, if only we could get a handle on these situations before hand, like make sure appraisers are doing their job and loans aren’t approved for house prices that are going up too fast.
Getting the appraisers some basic training is a good place to start.
The bidding wars on Indianapolis homes are a normal reflection of the fact that everyone wants to live there.
‘a loosening of lending standards spurred the strongest growth in the region since 2006…This has led to historically high prices. The market has not been this robust since it peaked a decade ago’
Robust = primed to blow up
The Star article has a pic of the front of the Ewigleben house, but I couldn’t find the actually listing or any pix on any of the realtor sites. Probably because it was listed for only 3 days.
However, based on other listings, $190K buys an awful lot of house in Indy. Lots of nice 4/2 <20 years old at that price. Instead, this young couple caught the downtown bug and chose to fix up something old.
Bernanke supports the “privatize the profits/socialize the losses” model enabled by retaining TBTF banks which can credibly take the economy hostage if they fail as a result of greed/incompetence/both.
The Bernank instead says “living wills” for TBTF institutions is the correct route. As though the living will (LW) is anything more than theater. As if a financial company which discovers yet a new scam to get the executives paid right now, which will blow up and stick the rest of the country with the tab later, is going to be put on any LW. As if any current risky operation is going to be correctly described in a living will, and risk getting shut down if its true nature were described. As if simply describing severe counterparty risk is going to do anything to reduce the country’s bill for hosting the company.
Living wills, right.
The Bernank is now pulling in hefty fees from the FIRE sector, as is Geithner. Like that scene in The Big Short, were the regulator is literally in bed with the regulated, what chance is there of credible regulation if the top guy in the organization is setting this example?
Something’s f•cky.
Bernanke doesn’t support new effort to break up biggest banks
Market Watch
by: Greg Robb
May 13, 2016
Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday he won’t join a new campaign to break up the biggest U.S. banks, being led by the president of one of the U.S. central bank’s dozen regional banks.
New Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari has come out in favor of breaking up large banks to make the financial system safer. He is hosting a series of seminars to bring renewed attention to the “too big to fail” issue.
“To say ‘nothing has been done’ is simply not correct,” Bernanke said. The forced breakup of large firms just doesn’t seem a smart way to avoid another crisis, “at least until reasonable alternatives have been tried,” he said.
In a new blog post, Bernanke defended the current process for ending “too big to fail” firms set up under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial services reform legislation, saying this would be the thrust of his argument next week.
Banks must complete work on living wills designed to give the government confidence that they can be safely resolved.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bernanke-doesnt-support-new-effort-to-break-up-biggest-banks-2016-05-13?siteid=rss
What exactly are those “smart ways” and “reasonable alternatives”? Bail-ins? Having the taxpayer backstop every conceivable bad bet made by private entities? And why is Bernanke, who works for Pimco and Citadel, still presumed to give an uninterested opinion?
Apres nous, le deluge.
Fed credibility “waning”? For anyone paying attention since 2008, the Fed has ZERO credibility and will ultimately debase the dollar into worthlessness.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/wall-street-s-bond-forecasters-splinter-as-fed-credibility-wanes
The serfs must maximize the earnings and “shareholder value” of their oligarch betters, even if it means wearing adult diapers to minimize bathroom breaks and maximize production.
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/05/12/welcome-to-the-recovery-poultry-workers-claim-theyre-denied-bathroom-breaks-and-wear-diapers-on-the-job/
I was just going to post about that. Totally disgusting. Gee, I thought this sort of thing went out with Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in 1911. Nope. It’s back, and better than ever! Third World Americuh!
Not only is this bad for the workers, but that right there is a recipe for widespread food contamination and disease: E-coli, for one.
This is the sort of bathroom problem the government should be getting into, instead of forcing kids in school to share bathrooms and locker rooms with perverts.
Racis.
Oh, come now, you can be more creative than that. Not only are the globalists into erasing borders, they’re into erasing the difference between right and wrong.
So what would be a good word to shame someone who objects to looting (both institutional and street level), thuggery, fraud, perversion, warring, torture, slavery etc.? Evilphobe?
Oh, hey, problem solved, they can order diapers from Amazon, why didn’t they think of that.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-to-expand-private-label-offeringsfrom-food-to-diapers-1463346316
One of the comments:
“How can one company make so much, do so many things and yet remain thoroughly unprofitable?
This is all smoke and mirrors to keep investors hoping there is some big breakthrough coming or believing the hype that they can flip the magic “profit lever” anytime they want.
THAT has become Amazon’s primary business.”
Interesting that Amazon warehouse workers have to spend half their lunch break on a security line, being felt up to see if they’ve stolen any crappy products off the shelves.
Amazon: a peep show for crap.
Oh, hi there, Jeff.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meerkat_At_the_zoo_Novosibirsk_Siberia.jpg
So what would be a good word to shame someone who objects to looting (both institutional and street level), thuggery, fraud, perversion, warring, torture, slavery etc.? Evilphobe?
Enemy of the State….
+1000
Ha! Why do I think Oxfam America is not very objective?
“It’s not just their dignity that suffers: they are in danger of serious health problems,” said Oxfam America, the U.S. arm of the U.K.-based global development group. The group works for a “just world without poverty” and focuses on topics ranging from refugees in Greece to malnutrition.
And this article is an insult to serfs.
The Lord of the serfs usually took from 20-33% of their harvest and left them pretty much alone.
We now have progressive lords who thinks nothing of taking 50%+ of a middle taxpayers income in total taxes and putting mentally unstable men in girl’s locker rooms as a civil right.
That’s an odd reaction to this story.
Because it is an uber slanted story from a very left wing political group?
I have worked in union shops. You get union bathroom breaks. You can’t leave the line except for the CONTRACT negotiated breaks. And there are plenty of them.
If you drink five cups of coffee at the beginning of your shift you are going to to be very uncomfortable…
Most people figure it out but there are always a few low IQ obama supporters.
“Because it is an uber slanted story from a very left wing political group?”
BZZZZT! Wrong! I’m hardly left wing, and years ago I worked for a non-union customer service/upsell facility that outsourced to various companies on a contract basis. Since it was set up like a massive cube farm, people had to put in for bathroom breaks via computer. It generally took half an hour to get an approval to pee or otherwise. The pay was pretty good, so many people put up with it. Most of the managers were pretty decent folks, though. They pretty much told the workers the rules of the road and how to deal with them.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
The bubble in San Francisco commerical real estate is starting to deflate.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/05/15/blackstone-manulife-deal-market-center-san-francisco-commercial-real-estate/
Uber. Yeah, this isn’t a house of cards.
‘The property is 92% leased, according to The Registry. Alas, among the largest tenants is Uber, which recently acquired the Sears building in Oakland and is expected to move into its new 330,000 sq-ft digs in a couple of years, which may leave Market Center scrambling for tenants at perhaps the worst possible time.’
‘It’s already getting tough. Sublease space in San Francisco in the first quarter “has soared to its highest mark since 2010,” according to commercial real estate services firm Savills Studley. Sublease space is the red flag. Companies lease excess office space because they expect to grow and hire and thus eventually fill this space. They warehouse this space for future use because they think there’s an office shortage despite the dizzying construction boom underway. This space sits empty, looming in the shadow inventory. When pressure builds to cut expenses, it hits the market overnight, coming apparently out of nowhere. With other companies doing the same, it creates a glut, and lease rates begin to swoon.’
‘So Manulife might have seen the slowdown coming: “Tech layoffs in the four-county Bay Area doubled for the first four months this year, compared to the same period last year, according to a report by Wells Fargo senior economist Mark Vitner, cited by The Mercury News, “in yet another sign of a slowdown in the booming Bay Area economy.”
I know there is already an app to get people to stand line for you, but I think that’s mostly for really long lines. I believe there is a niche market to be served by an app that summons a debt slave schmuck to stand in line for you at a fast food restaurant. It will be called “Fuber”.
Uber down to 65 billion valuation from 92
BELIEVE
The next leg down, which I hope leads the Real Estate Bubble to its final resting place, is going to be a doozy, thanks to the unprecedented levels of bubble denial currently in force.
I heard a while back, and think I noted here that (according to very experienced commercial brokers we know) that the official office vacancy rate is below 10% (5%? 7%?). HOWEVER, if you add back in space that was leased by tenants who don’t need it (planning for future growth), that vacancy rate balloons to more like 20%.
Here come the subleases…
“Three in five retirees surveyed by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies said making money or earning benefits was at least one reason they had retired later than they planned to. Almost half said financial problems were their main reason for working past 65.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-13/-i-ll-never-retire-americans-break-record-for-working-past-65
The Teamsters, one of the most corrupt of all the major unions and a major enablers of installing corrupt Democrat administrations (redundant, I realize), are panicking over the prospect of being victimized by the same thieves and swindlers they helped elect and maintain in power. I am going to enjoy watching these lemmings get exactly what they voted for.
http://www.startribune.com/teamsters-pension-fund-to-congress-help-us/378661561/
2banana’s Rule:
Conservatives and more than happy to live under the same laws and taxes they want for everyone else.
Liberals/progressives/democrats expect to be exempted from the laws and taxes they want for everyone else.
Example 1.
Unions give 99% of their money and support to democrats and pushed hard for obamacare but then got their union health care plans exempted from obamacare.
Example 2 (above).
The unions want gold plated pensions without paying for them. When risky pension investments don’t turn out to meet the expected 8% returns, they want a taxpayer bailout (from people who have NO pension). Cut an insane retirees pension? That is not the democrat way. You could lose votes.
I am still awaiting your move to Baghdad. Let’s see how you will live under the same laws that you help inflict upon them.
Wait, what? I know you haven’t been around much lately, but I recall you were conservative? I didn’t think I’d hear the “move to Somalia etc” line…
The Iraq Resolution or the Iraq War Resolution (formally the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002,[1] Pub.L. 107–243, 116 Stat. 1498, enacted October 16, 2002, H.J.Res. 114) is a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No: 107-243, authorizing military action against Iraq.
58% of Democratic senators voted for the resolution. Those voting for the resolution were:
Biden, Joseph (D-DE)
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY)
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
Schumer, Chuck (D-NY)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution
Never been a conservative. May have been a libertarian at some point….even that bores me now.
Ludwig von Mises on gold:
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/05/15/ludwig-von-mises-top-9-quotes-on-gold/
“The number of homicides increased in the first months of 2016 in more than two dozen major U.S. cities, going up in places that also saw spiking violence last year, according to statistics released Friday.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/14/we-have-a-problem-homicides-are-up-again-this-year-in-more-than-two-dozen-major-u-s-cities/
2banana’s rule #34.
Do not live or buy a house in long term run democrat cities with insane public unions and a huge free sh*t army.
+1000
Get a room, you two.
thanks captain obvious.
2banana’s rule #35.
Dont work for a heroin addict in democrat cities with insane public unions and a huge free sh*t army or lots of thieves and rapist.
WHAT CITY isn’t DEM outside of UT ?
That’s good point, made a few times by a brilliant poster. The cities where crime is going down are run by Democrats, just like those where crime is going up.
Why do you want to live in a neo-con city? What is that like? huge debts? bad schools? lots of cops. prisons, lots of cheap labor and pollution?
And right on cue, the usual MSM Wall Street touts and shills show up with their “green shoots” happy talk to lure complacent muppets into the Fed’s Ponzi markets and asset bubbles.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/here-comes-the-spring-rebound-for-the-us-economy-2016-05-15?link=MW_latest_news
‘in the last few months, he’s already done $10-15 million in sales. International buyers made up about 70 percent of that. ‘They’re actually specifically advertising our properties to their billionaires in China right now,’ he said.’
‘Overseas buyers are buying homes for all sorts of reasons. Some want to live Oregon, others want to have a vacation home, and still others want an investment they think will go up in value. ‘Real estate is becoming a new currency,’ Sprague said. The rest of the luxury home buyers are often younger, successful people who many times have a well-paying tech job. The report points out that Portland is attracting entrepreneurs and highly paid workers from Silicon Valley. ‘Most recently I had two-million dollar, three-million dollar properties that have sold to 25, 30 years olds’
‘Uber said it was profitable in the U.S. and Canada during the first quarter of this year. Lyft said it is “on a clear and defined path to profitability.” Postmates said it will be profitable by the end of 2017. DoorDash is “cash-flow positive” in some markets. TaskRabbit will be “profitable profitable” by the end of this year. It “won’t be too long” until Airbnb is profitable. Instacart is “gross margin profitable.” Luxe Valet is “on the precipice of being profitable” in some markets’
‘Behr’s startup began as an on-demand valet service, similar to Luxe, but he changed course after deciding it wouldn’t be sustainable. Now Zirx’s main business lets car dealers and other companies summon its drivers to drop off vehicles to customers or take them for an oil change. Behr said Zirx will be gross margin profitable for the first time this month.’
“You can always say, ‘We’re profitable if we don’t include X,’ ” Behr said. “But no matter how many ways you say you’re kind of profitable, if your bank account ends up lighter than when you started—eventually, that doesn’t work.”
‘Ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, Uber Technologies Inc’s main rival in China, is working towards an initial public offering in the United States that would likely take place in 2018, a person with knowledge of the plan said on Monday.’
‘The Apple Inc-backed firm is valued at around $25 billion and its stock market listing would be the most high-profile by a Chinese company in the United States since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s IPO two years ago.’
There’s no barrier to this stuff, no patent. Taxi’s aren’t tech. Grilled cheese sandwiches aren’t tech. Neither is delivering food, oil changes nor bed and breakfasts. So Apple is throwing money into a taxi firm in China? Sounds like the Chinese government imprisoning people who doubt their numbers; kinda out of ideas.
Well maybe my fellow atheist, uncle Warren knows something you and I don’t know. Go Apple! $billion
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-apple-stake-115508339.html
You know what I hate? Making my bed. I guess I could hire a maid service. That’s so old school economy though. What if I had an app…That could summon a schmuck… To make my bed… There is no MakeMyBed.com, yet.
Funny you should say that. I forced myself to get in that habit lately. Former girlfriend got me into that years ago - every day after waking up first thing to do (well maybe second) was make the bed. I stopped doing that after we broke up and I started living alone again but I got back into that habit again - no good reason. It just makes me feel better.
Now I have to get in the habit of cleaning my stovetop…
Stovetops are supposed to be cleaned!?
“Terry Sprague, the Founder of Luxe Platinum Properties, said in the last few months, he’s already done $10-15 million in sales. International buyers made up about 70 percent of that. ‘They’re actually specifically advertising our properties to their billionaires in China right now,’ he said.”
‘Overseas buyers are buying homes for all sorts of reasons. Some want to live Oregon, others want to have a vacation home, and still others want an investment they think will go up in value.’”
____________________________/
Or maybe they’re buying homes to launder money, you &#%(*) idiot house salesman.
These are luxury personal services and we’re getting poorer as a people. Even if the enterprises are profitable, there’s a low growth ceiling. As the article in the Atlantic reminded us, half of all Americans would find it hard to come up with $400 in an emergency. Those people aren’t going to use TaskRabbit, DoorDash, or Luxe Valet.
What does “profitable profitable” mean?
‘Real estate is becoming a new currency,’
The guy who said this apparently doesn’t know the definition of ‘currency.’ Houses don’t fit the description on several levels.
Teachers, the most ardent Democrat voting bloc of all, might find their enthusiasm for corruption and crony capitalism flagging after they get to retirement age and discover their pension money isn’t there and their purchasing power has been relentlessly debased by the Fed.
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/22411
I have a teacher friend who retired from the WV system. She loves Hilary and things coal is evil. I asked her who is going to pay her pension if all the coal mines are closed? She said the smart legislatures will figure it out. I said if you are counting on them better start expecting some huge cuts. She said they can can’t cut my pension can the? I need that money! I said maybe.
“March, 2016 real estate action brought speculation of a cooling market. But that cooling didn’t last long, according to OpenHouse, which tracks real-time market trends, for-sale and sold data for April 14, 2016-May 14, 2016 days show San Francisco insanity scaling new heights.
“In SF over the last 30 days, 69 percent of all buyers paid over the asking price for the home they purchased.” This over-bidding comes in addition to a current median list price of $1.15 million and a sale median of $1.28 million.”
http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2016/05/16/feeding-frenzy-sf-buyers-over-bid-on-69-percent-of-homes-sold-last-month/
The Greek bailout farce continues. The ECB has no choice than to grant new “loans” in exchange for empty promises of “reform” which the Greeks can’t and won’t keep. But a Greek default means Game Over the for the EU Ponzi markets, so the ECB will keep kicking the can down the road (and delivering more bailouts) into perpetuity, or untll German taxpayers finally wise up, dump their oligopoly-adjunct “leaders” like Merkel, and refuse to bail out the banksters who recklessly loaned to deadbeats and grifters, aka socialist administrations.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/key-dates-to-watch-on-greece-as-bailout-rift-cracks-open-2016-05-09
Recovery Plan for Greece.
1. Leave the EU
2. Leave the Euro
3. Default on all public debt
4. Issue Drachmas
5. Outlaw all public pensions
6. Institute small government and low taxes
7. Put the army on border and the navy at sea. Turn away every “migrant” by any means necessary
8. Deport all illegals. Either back to Turkey or to Germany/Brussels.
9. Watch economy grow.
10. Drink Uzo and dance
Greece raised their min wage beyond eye average
Warmist Warming Monday:
“NASA announced some grim climate news over the weekend.
April was the warmest month ever recorded, with soaring temperatures that smashed the previous monthly record by the largest margin in known history.
Based on NASA data, April was the seventh month in a row that global temperatures set a new record high. It was also the third consecutive month that the record was broken by the largest margin ever.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hottest-april-2016-nasa_us_57394f3ae4b060aa781aa334
But there’s snow at the North Pole!
Infinite growth is not possible in a finite ecosystem.
The globalist “solution” to warmism will be collectivist, and it will fail.
Read some Jared Diamond books and learn how it will really play out…
Nothing to be done… they breed faster than you can shoot ‘em.
“Based on NASA data”
Based on NASA data Global Warming is hiding under the ocean and Sea level rise is hiding under foreclosed houses.
July 9, 2015
RELEASE 15-147
NASA Study Finds Indian, Pacific Oceans Temporarily Hide Global Warming
A new NASA study of ocean temperature measurements shows in recent years extra heat from greenhouse gases has been trapped in the waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Researchers say this shifting pattern of ocean heat accounts for the slowdown in the global surface temperature trend observed during the past decade.
News | February 11, 2016
Study: Rising seas slowed by increasing water on land
By Carol Rasmussen,
NASA Earth Science News Team
A new study by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and the University of California, Irvine, shows that while ice sheets and glaciers continue to melt, changes in weather and climate over the past decade have caused Earth’s continents to soak up and store an extra 3.2 trillion tons of water in soils, lakes and underground aquifers, temporarily slowing the rate of sea level rise by about 20 percent.
The resorts may be closed but the backcountry ski season is nowhere near over:
http://opensnow.com/dailysnow/colorado
Warmists gonna warm. It’s what they do.
Got gold?
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/gold
They just didn’t have the right people in charge.
It will work when tried here. We Promise!
And to think Venezuela has more oil than Saudi Arabia…
————-
Socialist Paradise Venezuela Isn’t Doing So Well
HotAir | May 15, 2016 | Taylor Millard
Things are not looking good at all for socialist paradise Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro declared a state of emergency a couple days ago due to unrest and a shortage of supplies, including flour. It’s so bad, some U.S. officials told Reuters they don’t expect Maduro to stay in power that much longer.
They said one “plausible” scenario would be that Maduro’s own party or powerful political figures would force him out and would not rule out the possibility of a military coup. Still, they said there was no evidence of any active plotting or that he had lost support from the country’s generals.
“You can hear the ice cracking. You know there’s a crisis coming,” one U.S. official said. “Our pressure on this isn’t going to resolve this issue.” The biggest issue is the fact the country’s economy is in the toilet, with its debts basically forcing the state to cut imports. Venezuela’s economic czar told Bloomberg that’s the only way to save the economy.
“We’ve applied a very austere program,” Vice President for Economic Policy Miguel Perez Abad said at an interview at his office in Caracas, adding that imports would probably fall to about $20 billion this year from $37 billion in 2015. “We’re going to maintain this level of restriction to force the productive sector of the economy to increase output. Hopefully we could cut imports to as low as $15 billion.” The comments are pretty important because Venezuela relies heavily on the oil and gas sector for its economy, but has only two companies “competing” in the country. The gigantic one is PDVSA which is state-owned, while privately-owned Trebol Gas C.A. has a small share of the market. The same goes for the steel market with one company owned by the state (SIDOR), with smaller Sivensa operating as the privately-run one. The aluminum market is controlled by state-owned Alcasa. The state basically runs the economy, which is one reason why things aren’t going so well. There’s no diversification and everything goes through the government, meaning bureaucracy chokes the life out of the economy.
Maduro isn’t planning on going away, and is stealing from predecessor Hugo Chavez’ playbook by saying America is plotting against Venezuela. He’s even claiming foreign powers (aka USA) are going to try to invade. Via Bloomberg.
“Research published this week by the Tampa Bay Times reveals stunning statistics from 2014: 53 Wal-Mart stores in 3 Florida Counties (Hillsborough, Pasco, and Hernando) generated a paddy wagon caravan of 16,800 police reports in one year alone.
That’s two calls an hour, every hour, every day. “The calls eat up hours of officer’s time,” the newspaper reports. “They all start at one place.” One sheriff told the newspaper, “It is a tremendous strain on manpower.”
The Tampa Bay Times calculates that Wal-Mart, on average, produce four times as many calls as nearby Target stores. The newspaper said the retailer has been criticized “for shifting too much of its security burden onto taxpayers. Several local law enforcement officers also emphasized that all the hours spent at Wal-Mart cut into how often they can patrol other neighborhoods and prevent other crimes.”
“They’re a huge problem in terms of the amount of time that’s spent there,” a Tampa police officer admitted. “We are, as a department, at the mercy of what they want to do.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-norman/surfing-wal-marts-crime-w_b_9974822.html
Yeah, I read that piece this weekend. Doesn’t Wal-Mart shift all of its burdens onto taxpayers, not just security? One thing that surprised me was the sheer number of Wal-Marts in this metropolitan area, it looked like forty or some other saturation figure. I had no idea there were so many.
Debt donkeys gonna donk:
“The average American household has total debt of more than $90,000, which includes households that live debt free. The average household with debt owes more than $130,000.
This debt burden is costing the average household more than $6,600 in interest per year — about 9% of the average income.”
http://time.com/money/4326122/average-household-debt/
This debt burden is costing the average household more than $6,600 in interest per year — about 9% of the average income.”
That “about 9% of the average income” sucks; It should be a lot higher.
Clearly not enough dumbing down has been done.
But not all of it is bad debt.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sezs Mr. Banker.
“But not all of it is bad debt.”
It’s not the debt that is bad, it’s the positioning of yourself in relation to the debt that makes it bad.
The mantra regarding real estate is “Location, location, location”.
The mantra regarding debt should be “Position, position, position”; Debt sucks if you are positioned on the wrong end of it but it is a wonderful thing if your positioning is on the opposite end.
Debt Donkeys festooned with feedbags full of Crater Taters.
http://www.wxicof.com/Supplies/donkeysupplies/feedbagdnky.gif
Why can’t the MarketWatch peops get it into their heads that no Fed rate hikes are on the table until at earliest after the November 2016 election and give the issue a rest?
U.S. stock futures struggle after weak manufacturing data
By Anora Mahmudova and Barbara Kollmeyer
Published: May 16, 2016 9:20 a.m. ET
Oil gains after Goldman turns upbeat on supply
AFP/Getty Images
China delivers more disappointing data
U.S. stock futures were fighting to advance Monday, hovering near the flatline after a reading of New York-area manufacturing conditions fell sharply in May.
The Empire State general business-conditions index nose-dived to a reading of negative 9, from positive 9.6 in April. Against that weak-data backdrop. some investors believe the probability for an increase of benchmark interest rates by the Federal Reserve as a low.
Stock futures were already struggling after Chinese economic indicators pointed to more weakness, overshadowing a renewed push higher for oil prices.
…
Wall Street Journal — Fears of Facebook Bias Seem to Be Overblown
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fears-of-facebook-bias-seem-to-be-overblown-1463371261
September 27, 2015:
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel was overheard confronting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over incendiary posts on the social network, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, amid complaints from her government about anti-immigrant posts in the midst of Europe’s refugee crisis.
On the sidelines of a United Nations luncheon on Saturday, Merkel was caught on a hot mic pressing Zuckerberg about social media posts about the wave of Syrian refugees entering Germany, the publication reported.
The Facebook CEO was overheard responding that “we need to do some work” on curtailing anti-immigrant posts about the refugee crisis. “Are you working on this?” Merkel asked in English, to which Zuckerberg replied in the affirmative before the transmission was disrupted.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/27/angela-merkel-caught-on-hot-mic-pressing-facebook-ceo-over-anti-immigrant-posts.html
Zuckerberg is a globalist.
Globalists gonna globe.
Always enjoyable when banksters shed headcount into the oligarch-looted economies they helped create. Enjoy those barista jobs, former HSBC employees.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hsbc-axes-hundreds-of-uk-jobs-to-cut-costs-2016-05-16
I write about this all the time, but the one time I was in London — I arrived at Gatwick, took a bus to Heathrow, and promptly flew to Spain –I could barely tell I was in the UK. The entire jetway at Gatwick was one big HSBC advertisement. This was before the bank was caught laundering funds for drug cartels. But that’s not a crime worthy of prosecution, is it Department of Justice?
Consolidating the globalist narrative:
“Gannett Co., which owns USA TODAY and more than 100 local news properties nationwide, said Monday it raised its offer to buy Tribune Publishing Co. to $15 per share, dialing up the pressure after its earlier bid was rejected by Tribune’s board of directors despite some shareholders’ call for a negotiation.
The revised offer values Tribune (TPUB), which owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and nine other dailies, at about $479 million. Gannett (GCI) also offered to assume about $385 million of Tribune’s debt, valuing the total deal at about $864 million.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/05/16/gannett-raises-offer-buy-tribune-15-per-share/84433200/
Doral, FL Housing Affordability Improves As Prices Dive 5% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/doral-fl/home-values/
As reported by real journalists:
“The economic crisis in this country has exploded into a public health emergency, claiming the lives of untold numbers of Venezuelans. It is just part of a larger unraveling here that has become so severe it has prompted President Nicolás Maduro to impose a state of emergency and has raised fears of a government collapse.
Hospital wards have become crucibles where the forces tearing Venezuela apart have converged. Gloves and soap have vanished from some hospitals. Often, cancer medicines are found only on the black market. There is so little electricity that the government works only two days a week to save what energy is left.
At the University of the Andes Hospital in the mountain city of Mérida, there was not enough water to wash blood from the operating table. Doctors preparing for surgery cleaned their hands with bottles of seltzer water.
“It is like something from the 19th century,” said Dr. Christian Pino, a surgeon at the hospital.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/world/americas/dying-infants-and-no-medicine-inside-venezuelas-failing-hospitals.html?_r=0
“In interviews with about a dozen young native New Yorkers, all from areas where real estate prices have soared and new residents have poured in, mixed emotions surfaced about the consequences of gentrification. Some of those interviewed were members of minority groups, some were white; all were between the ages of 23 and 34. For some, new restaurants, shops and services were welcome, especially if amenities had once been sparse, but to others, they seemed like a hostile takeover. Some said the old sense of community had disappeared in construction dust. None had been able to afford an apartment of their own in their childhood neighborhoods.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/realestate/priced-out-of-my-childhood-home.html
California is the most impoverished state in the country:
“San Francisco residents have over decades become inured to encounters with the city’s homeless population, the clumps of humanity sleeping on sidewalks under coats and makeshift blankets, or drug addicts shooting up in full view of pedestrians. There are also the tension-filled but common scenes of mentally ill men and women stumbling down streets, arguing with imaginary enemies or harassing passers-by.
One particularly vocal group of residents, San Francisco’s journalists, say they feel a sense of urgency in addressing the problem. They are banding together in an exasperated, but as yet vaguely defined, attempt to spur the city into action.
Next month, media organizations in the Bay Area are planning to put aside their rivalries and competitive instincts for a day of coordinated coverage on the homeless crisis in the city. The Chronicle, which is leading the effort, is dispensing with traditional news article formats and will put forward possible solutions to the seemingly intractable plight of around 6,000 people without shelter.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/us/san-francisco-homelessness.html
Plenty of houses in Detroit… they should rent 18 wheelers and ship them there.
For all the badge lickers and uniform fetishists:
“Three years ago, when the Tsarnaev brothers set off a bomb at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding two hundred and sixty-four, Craig Atkinson, a New York filmmaker, looked on with as much horror as anyone else. But he noticed something, too: the police in Boston and its suburbs sent armored cars into the streets and deployed officers dressed like Storm Troopers, who carried assault rifles and fanned out across neighborhoods as though they were in an infantry division in Afghanistan. Atkinson asked himself, when did local police forces, in their equipment and tactics, come to resemble armies of occupation?
“Do Not Resist” features several eye-popping moments. There’s Dave Grossman, a leading consultant to police and the F.B.I., lecturing a room full of officers on the pleasures of using violence on the job. (“Finally get home at the end of the incident and they all say, ‘The best sex I’ve had in months,’ “ Grossman told them.) There’s the scene, in South Carolina, of the Richland County Sheriff Department’s Special Response Team conducting a practice gun battle, firing automatic weapons and looking very much like the Navy SEALs in Baghdad. And there’s Alan Estevez, a deputy under-secretary of defense, testifying to Congress that, along with the many tons of military equipment, police departments were in recent years given twelve thousand bayonets.
The practice of donating unused military equipment to local governments began in 1997, when language creating a program for it was included in an otherwise unremarkable Defense Department budget authorization. Under the 1033 program, as it’s called, the Department of Defense publishes a list of surplus equipment that is available to local governments. But the turning point—as with so many other issues—came after 9/11. Since the nineties, the Defense Department has donated some five billion dollars’ worth of equipment—much of it non-lethal items, like office supplies—to local governments. But the over-all value of military equipment acquired by police forces is actually much higher: local governments have received approximately thirty-four billion dollars in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to buy their own military equipment from private suppliers. That brings the total to thirty-nine billion dollars—more than the entire defense budget of Germany.”
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/do-not-resist-and-the-crisis-of-police-militarization
When you import 100,000’s of muslims (because they will vote as block and for generation as democrats until they can eventually vote for sharia law) and a certain significant percentage of them believe in sharia law now through military means - this is the response of the local police.
Local police watch TV too.
Muslims in other western counties use fully automatic weapons, RPGs and bombs to bring the infidels to their knees. Killing infidel police helps that along.
Go google Beslan. It will happen in America. The only question is when and how much the democrats in power will apologize to muslims and blame the victims.
“The Justice Department has announced that it is resuming a controversial practice that allows local police departments to funnel a large portion of assets seized from citizens into their own coffers under federal law.
The “Equitable Sharing Program” gives police the option of prosecuting some asset forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law, particularly in instances where local law enforcement officers have a relationship with federal authorities as part of a joint task force. Federal forfeiture policies are more permissive than many state policies, allowing police to keep up to 80 percent of assets they seize.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/28/the-feds-have-resumed-a-controversial-program-that-lets-cops-take-stuff-and-keep-it/
bananas: “Muslims in other western counties use fully automatic weapons, RPGs and bombs to bring the infidels to their knees.”
Well said my friend! They need to get with the program and start killing people like we do. With Drones. No muss no fuss, you’re a thousand miles away playing a video game. Bonus, you kill a lot of extra Muslims. Some of them might even be in a hospital or at wedding.
I was hanging out at the hospital for a couple months, making sure my mom got taken care of. While I was there, there was this buzzhead cop hanging around, presumably to keep an eye on somebody in one of the rooms. Kind of atypical because he was only mildly obese. Gave me the stink eye every time I saw him, which I returned with interest. He’d follow me around. If I was in a waiting room working in my laptop, I’d turn around and he’d be watching me. A real creeper.
Came the day when I passed him smiling, almost skipping down the hall in his eagerness as he pulls on those blue gloves. He was finally going to get to abuse somebody, and you could tell that was what he lived for.
Needs to be put down like a rabid animal.
This story reminds me of when about 2 years ago the San Diego Unified School District (yes, a school district) purchased an MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected) vehicle. They were going to paint it white and blue and fill it with teddy bears! For the children!
Luckily, the citizens (voters) of San Diego spoke up in a unified voice and said “NO” to this insane purchase! And so the school district had to send it back!
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/lessons-from-san-diego-schools-mrap-debacle/
And the weekend tally in the utopian paradise of Chicago is……?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-weekend-shootings-chicago-20160516-story.html
“What they do?
Gonna ban the AK
My sh*t wasn’t registered
Any f*cking way” — Ice Cube
2banana’s rule #34 with corollary:
Do not live or buy a house in long term run democrat cities with insane public unions and a huge free sh*t army ESPECIALLY if the city bans guns for the average law abiding citizen.
2Banana’s rule: Be afraid. The end.
Known by the locals as “Chiraq”
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chiraq
“The media are selective in their outrage about things.”
——————–
Why Bill Clinton’s 26 Trips on the Lolita Express Child Rape Jet Matter
FrontPage Magazine | May 15, 2016 | Daniel Greenfield
We don’t know what Bill Clinton did or didn’t do in company with Jeffrey Epstein. But we certainly know what Epstein did and, almost as outrageously, what he got away with doing.
Some of the most shocking allegations against Epstein surfaced only after the conclusion of an FBI probe, in civil suits brought by his victims: for example, the claim that three 12-year-old French girls were delivered to him as a birthday present.
…
Sex crimes of the kind Roberts alleges took place typically carry a term of 10 to 20 years in federal prison. Yet when all was said and done, Epstein served his scant year-plus-one-month in a private wing of the Palm Beach jail and was granted a 16-hour-per-day free pass to leave the premises for work.
In short, Epstein was never actually in jail. During his “house arrest,” he flew around the country on his jets from his New York City place to his private island. At least one of Epstein’s victims claimed to have met Bill Clinton. And it turns out that Bill Clinton was a much more regular passenger on the Lolita Express.
…
Clinton’s presence aboard Jeffrey Epstein’s Boeing 727 on 11 occasions has been reported, but flight logs show the number is more than double
…
It doesn’t help that the Democratic establishment seems to have played a role in getting Epstein a pass on child rape, that Bill Clinton already had rape accusations in his past or that the Clintons had become notorious for their willingness to do favors for criminals in exchange for money.
Either way we’ve come a long way from Gary Hart being bounced for “Monkey Business” to Bill Clinton flying around on a child rapist’s plane without anyone in the media seeming to care much about it.
It won’t be long until we are celebrating paedos a la Bruce Jenner.
There is a very long article on the World Net Daily* website about this now.
(* tradcon family values, neocon foreign policy, typical Rapture hypocrites)
It’s probably not as bad as FrontPage Magazine.
David Horowitz was born to communist parents in the communist enclave of Sunnyside, Queens.
That he renounced his communist beliefs is a betrayal that you must feel rather personally.
Thanks for the pointless, content-free nonsense.
Lurkers and newbs, know that any “content” posted by MikeyMite has been scripted by and provided to him by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Back at you, Mikey.
http://imgur.com/gallery/A43mw
Bible thumpers only diddle their own kids. It’s different.
A true WTF moment in American history.
—————
Obama: By Almost Every Measure, America and World Are Better Than 8 Years Ago
CNS News | May 15, 2016
Delivering the commencement address at Rutgers University in New Jersey today, President Barack Obama told the graduates that “the good old days weren’t that good” and that both America and the world are better than they were “even eight years ago.”
“In fact,” he said, “by almost every measure, America is better and the world is better than it was 50 years ago or 30 years ago or even eight years ago.”
Yes whatever there Obama.
You don’t have to deal with this mess…..
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/05/16/nightmarish-lines-continue-at-airport-security-checkpoints/
Interesting thing is not one mention at all in today’s local rags about this.
I flew out of Chicago last week and it took me over 1.5 hours to get thru TSA. And I was told I was in the short line!
Highly recommend this book:
“A new kind of criminal kingpin has arisen: part CEO, part terrorist, and part rock star, unleashing guerrilla attacks, strong-arming governments, and taking over much of the world’s trade in narcotics, guns, and humans. What they do affects you now–from the gas in your car, to the gold in your jewelry, to the tens of thousands of Latin Americans calling for refugee status in the U.S. Gangster Warlords is the first definitive account of the crime wars now wracking Central and South America and the Caribbean, regions largely abandoned by the U.S. after the Cold War. Author of the critically acclaimed El Narco, Ioan Grillo has covered Latin America since 2001 and gained access to every level of the cartel chain of command in what he calls the new battlefields of the Americas. Moving between militia-controlled ghettos and the halls of top policy-makers, Grillo provides a disturbing new understanding of a war that has spiraled out of control–one that people across the political spectrum need to confront now.”
http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/gangster-warlords-9781620403808/
Related article:
“MS-13 tattoos partially mean loyalty to the group or ‘family,’ but they mainly demonstrate the identification to a specific lifestyle, representing the culture of the street. Also in this scenario, tattoos were like like a ‘baptism’ of the member into a group, representing the turning point of the appartenance. Though it has changed in the past five years or so, the tattoos used to be a way of demonstrating lifelong commitment to the gang. The more prominent the tattoos, the less likely the person could leave the gang lifestyle, with facial tattoos being the ultimate representation of commitment,” Southern Pulse analysts told TheDCNF.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/15/why-the-deadliest-gang-in-the-world-might-be-rethinking-face-tattoos/
I went to a taco stand in Arizona a few years ago. The 30 something guy at the counter had among other things a giant SD tattooed on his face. He said it stood for San Diego.
The Gangster Warlords book profiles drug gangs in Brazil, El Salvador / Honduras, Jamaica, and Mexico. And it notes that what all of these political environments have in common is systemic, institutionalized police corruption.
Probably a San Diego Padres fan. If you see a lightning bolt, most likely a Chargers fan. Same folks that don’t mind giving corporate welfare to billionaires to build them new sports stadiums.
Hope and Change:
“The Travis family is part of a trend here in Chicago – on average more than ten thousand African-Americans leave the city every year…And data shows an increase in the number of blacks living in the suburbs. Researchers are beginning to call this migration “black flight.”
From 2000 and 2014, just over 200-thousand African-Americans left Chicago, that’s roughly one out of every five blacks.
University of Illinois at Chicago urban planning professor Janet Smith says gun violence is a key factor in the migration, especially for families with children.”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/chicagos-high-murder-rates-drive-exodus-of-black-middle-class/
Majority black cities with a black mayors and black police chiefs and every insane progressive law enacted….
And we get black flight to the white suburbs.
The irony is that these same blacks will then vote and elect the same type of liberals/democrats that destroyed the city in which they escaped from.
Identity politics…keeping democrats in power for 50 years.
When did Chicago have a black mayor? I think that it was around 30 years ago.
It was a general statement.
Black riots in Baltimore with a black mayor and police chief.
Philadelphia “the brothers and sisters are in charge”
Etc.
The story was about a city with a white mayor. There’s nothing about black public officials causing blacks to move from cities to suburbs. Your brain is just fascinating.
Your brain is just fascinating.
As fascinating as yours is empty.
That was Harold Washington - who it is rumored had passed away in his well appointed apartment in his barkalounger, naked with who knows what was on the tee vee.
That’s a pretty disjointed summary/conclusion. Notice they said black MIDDLE CLASS flight.
So, is it “black politics” as you imply or the divide between black middle class and black poors? The latter group, I would guess, having the highest percentage of criminals?
Don’t move here. You won’t like it.
Trust me, I won’t.
Recommend the B & B Cafe in downtown Castle Rock, we had an excellent brunch there yesterday.
They serve traditional breakfast there? Coffee any good? That is my measuring stick.
It’s not that great, but I always prefer to patronize independently owned businesses over chains.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/b-and-b-cafe-castle-rock-2
Same here. Corporate restaurants are soulless.
“In a new report from Christie’s International Real Estate, Portland comes in at number 8 on a list of the world’s hottest luxury housing markets.”
Was going to post this last week. You can’t see Portland #8 (!!) internationally and not think “WTF is going on?”
I had thought Portland was relatively immune to this, but about 6 months ago I pulled up to a stop downtown to see an Asian guy in a suit puffing on a cig outside a tour bus and thought to myself, “there goes the neighborhood.”
But still, number 8? Vert da ferk??
Time to suggest to my Portland friends to cash in and sell before the bubble pops.
Sheldon Adelson spent $5 million in 2014 to support Big Government telling grown adults what they can and can’t put inside their bodies:
“Florida voters overwhelmingly support legalization of medical marijuana, pollsters said Wednesday, and most also favor legalization of recreational pot use.
The Quinnipiac University poll found 80 percent of Florida voters said they would vote for a proposed constitutional amendment in November allowing for medical use of marijuana. Just 16 percent said they’d vote no.
Support for medical marijuana was also high before the 2014 election before an opposition campaign raised doubts among voters. Opponents have promised a vigorous opposition effort this year, which again could drive down support.”
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-florida-marijuana-poll-may-20160511-story.html
Two opposing trends which affect local housing prices in tech-centric cities like SFO and Seattle: on the one hand, levels of venture capital financing have been dropping and there is more emphasis on startup profitability:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/tech-startups-come-up-with-some-creative-definitions-for-profitable
On the other hand, the Chinese are still looking to expatriate their wealth into dollar-denominated US real estate, especially into residential homes in popular cities:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/16/chinese-pour-110bn-into-us-real-estate-says-study
Loads of borrowed money and rampant fraud changes nothing.
Hi there Chief Jay, AKA Housing Analyst!
Just a friendly reminder: you have already used up your one allocated new internet handle per month.
Data my friend.
San Diego, CA Housing Prices Crater 18% YoY; Inventory Balloons As Demand Plummets
http://www.zillow.com/san-diego-ca-92130/home-values/
Your cherry-picked data is no bueno, HA.
And San Diego is a long way from both Seattle and SFO and thus not relevant.
Boots on the ground data my friend. Boots on the ground data.
latest transaction in my neighborhood (eastside Seattle) is offshore Chinese, according to a reliable source of gossip.
fake Yuan, buying the usa.
Here’s a link to the full report, for anyone interested: http://asiasociety.org/files/uploads/66files/Asia%20Society%20Breaking%20Ground%20Complete%20Final.pdf
Unions are the largest political donors of all time.
They give 99% of their money to democrats.
They use violence, extortion, threats to family members, and destruction to get their way.
We used to call that terrorism. Democrats call that keeping and retaining power.
—–
Exclusive: Powerful Philadelphia Union Accused of Using Drones to Intimidate Enemies
Jillian Kay Melchior - May 16, 2016 - heatst.com
“I guess they were trying to show their power,” says Wankawala, who says he sought bids from union and non-union contractors and discovered that using solely organized labor would increase his costs by around 30 percent. “I’m the new kid on the block. This is my first project [in Philadelphia]. I think they were trying to send a message that you have to use union labor to get your project done.”
Such scare tactics are nothing new; for decades, Philadelphia’s construction unions have used violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation to dominate the construction industry.
Though Philadelphia’s builders are used to strong-arm tactics from construction unions, the drone video was version 2.0, signaling that Philadelphia’s construction unions would invest in the most cutting-edge technology available to intimidate people who get in their way.
Local 98’s spokesman declined Heat Street’s request for an interview with Johnny Doc or other union leadership. Local 98 claimed online that it had bought the drones “to film [Local] 98’s own picket lines and protests to protect the union from false claims against it.” Union spokesman Frank Keel also said the drones would be used to “identify unlicensed workers, and in some instances, undocumented workers,” a statement he later retracted after the social-justice group Juntos accused him of racial profiling.
A few years ago, the construction unions focused their ire on Post Brothers, a builder that resisted their demands to use 100 percent union labor for their upscale downtown apartment complex.
Matthew and Michael Pestronk, the brothers who founded the company, claimed at least nine construction unions repeatedly vandalized their site and assaulted at least two of their workers; their security cameras captured one particularly brutal attack.
Furthermore, Matthew Pestronk said union members took photos of his pregnant wife, Carrie, and two-year-old child, and disseminated a photo that had been doctored to make it look like she was holding a dildo. “Carrie Pestronk likes to get hard with it!” was scrawled on the side.
The Building Trades Council and construction labor unions also targeted Sarina Rose, vice president of development at Post Brothers, she told the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as it weighed legislation to close loopholes that effectively allowed union intimidation. In July 2013 testimony to the state’s House Judiciary Committee, Rose said construction union members had videotaped her children as they waited for a bus stop, and showed up at her children’s sporting events and filmed them.
Rose told state legislators that she wasn’t the only one afraid for her family. “Our contractors and employees’ wives have been harassed and videotaped, followed and harassed while entering and dropping off their young children at classes, child care and home by local trade union members. They go through our garbage, follow us home, and have enlisted a campaign to videotape our residents, including women, children and seniors, on all of our sites all day almost every day,” she testified to the House Judiciary Committee.
Rose filed charges against a business agent of Ironworkers Local 401 in 2013 after she said he had followed her into a restaurant near her work, pushed her against a counter, pressed his body up against her and called her a “cunt,” according to November 2013 municipal court records of the case.
Later that same day, she told the court, that same union member followed her car, mimicked a gun with his hand, pointed it her and mouthed “bang, bang, bang.”
Municipal Judge Charles Hayden ruled that these acts did “not rise to the level of a crime,” agreeing with the union lawyer’s argument that “this has been about a labor dispute.
Philadelphia’s unions have a history of impunity that stretches back more than four decades. Between 1975 and 2009, the National Right to Work Committee tallied a staggering 143 incidents of union-related violence or vandalism in Philadelphia. They resulted in a mere eight convictions.
Last year, a judge convicted several members of Ironworkers Local 401 who had run their union like an organized-crime syndicate. Their crimes included torching a Quaker meeting house days before Christmas and beating non-union workers with baseball bats outside a Toys R Us construction site.
Meanwhile, Johnny Doc has turned his union power into personal wealth. In 2015, his total compensation from Building Trades Council and Local 98 was more than $425,000, according to the unions’ filings with the Department of Labor.
Yeah, ’cause business wont cheat if left unregulated.
Watch this doc: http://sugarcoateddoc.com/
The Tobacco industry would not lie to you. The sugar industry is your friend.
So I guess that any malfeasance by big business is evidence that big business is a threat to society.
Irrelevant.
Tacoma, WA Housing Affordability Surges As Prices Plunge 8%YoY; Inventory Balloons As Demand Craters
http://www.zillow.com/northeast-tacoma-tacoma-wa/home-values/
‘And they came back with a value $25,000 higher than the original appraisal. The same as the sale price, coincidentally,’ Laymac said.
And this occurs daily everywhere.
‘The reason, in my opinion, that there is such a big variation in the two bottom lines is because of the comp selection, and that is a biggie in appraising,’ Tylar said.”
Why is the bank getting a comparative market analysis(comp) when they’re paying for an appraisal?
Homes are valued in comparison to other transactions–thus the need for a comp set.
It’s the same thing for commercial property, except usually the comp set establishes a cap rate, not necessarily a price per foot.
Wrong-O.
This business doesn’t bid on work relative to some 50 year old run down version of it.
‘Philadelphia home values finished the first quarter of 2016 higher than the peak they reached just before the housing bubble burst in 2007.’
“The average Philadelphia home has achieved a new all-time high in value,” Gillen said Monday.’
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/real_estate/20160517_Prices_surging_for_Philly_home_sales.html
This got me wondering about how high PHI went during the bubble relative to history, which got me looking for raw data, which got me back to the Freddie Mac website…for those looking for raw data, here is an interesting page:
http://www.freddiemac.com/finance/fmhpi/archive.html
Breaks down the data by MSA.
Curiously, they don’t show prices being all that out of control in the MSA that includes PHI…only up 1.3% year on year through March, and still a fair bit below the peak.
Could very well be that the article is looking at Philadelphia proper, and not the entire MSA.
‘Success in the property markets occasionally brings about its own downfall in the form of overbuilding and the steady returns brought to investors by seniors housing in recent years may well lead to oversaturation of some markets by the fourth quarter of this year, experts say.’
‘Though seniors housing occupancy on a national level increased slightly in the first quarter to 90.1 percent, new development is also at an all-time high, at 5.8 percent of existing supply, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care. The number of units under construction has increased from 22,975 in December 2012 to almost 50,000 at the start of this year, according to NIC data.’
‘A significant amount of new supply will likely come on-line by the end of 2016, a fact now causing some concern in the industry, says Zach Bowyer, managing director at CBRE’s seniors housing and care division. Though there are some restraints enacted by lenders asking for loan-to-value (LTV) ratios as low as 50 percent, as well as higher development costs, a flood of new capital is coming from investors trying to enter a prime sector of commercial real estate.’
“There are going to be markets that are going to be overbuilt this year,” Bowyer says. “It might be the wrong property for the wrong market, or an operator that’s stretched thin, but then those properties in that market are going to have a hard time.”
http://nreionline.com/seniors-housing/overbuilding-likely-demand-seniors-housing-stalls
‘a flood of new capital is coming from investors’
Remember what Ms Booth said about the growing amounts of pension/LI money looking for return? Heck of a job Janet.
‘If your business depends on the energy or mining industries or anything related to commodities, you’re in trouble. Almost everywhere you look, there’s a surfeit of supply and a dearth of demand. “Nothing is moving,” said one beleaguered executive, and his comments are echoed in thousands of small and mid-size businesses not just in the U.S. but globally.’
‘We all know the reasons why. China stopped buying and the rest of the world kept producing – that’s one. The other is the growing surplus of commodities of all kinds in the face of lackluster demand and a stagnant global economy.’
‘So it’s no surprise that prices for oil, coal, iron ore and copper fell off a cliff, asset values plummeted, storage bins filled to capacity, and a host of companies found themselves facing the likelihood of bankruptcy. As for shipping, its problems were exacerbated by an oversupply of vessels ordered during the post-Great Recession boom years and still being delivered today.’
‘For the dry bulk industry in particular, where the oversupply is most evident, the impact has been dramatic. From a high of close to $200,000/day in 2014, rates for the largest class of dry bulk carriers – Capesizes, the ones used to transport coal and iron ore – have fallen to about $5,000/day. It costs at least $7,000/day just to operate one of these behemoths, nevermind the financing and other capital costs involved. So the losses can mount up quickly.’
‘And the Capes are not alone. The carnage extends to smaller sizes as well – to Panamaxes, Newcastlemaxes, Supramaxes and Handysizes (don’t you just love those names?). Eagle Bulk, for example, one of the largest owners of Supramax vessels (those in the 50,000-dwt. range), finds itself facing the prospect of bankruptcy for the second time in two years as its stock now trades below $2 and loans become due. And Dryships, once the darling of Wall Street when its stock traded well above $100/share, is busy restructuring its debt in the face of massive losses.’
‘The container segment is not far behind, and let’s not even get into the offshore, where workboats and rigs are being stacked at an alarming rate. The one bright spot has been the tanker industry, but even there rates have weakened of late. Ditto for the gas carriers that ply the previously lucrative LNG and LPG trades, though LPG is holding up better. The problem is the same everywhere – too many vessels and too few cargoes.’
‘It’s likely to get worse before it gets better, given the current economic outlook. Historically, global trade expands at roughly twice the rate of global GDP, but that has not been the case lately. Lately global trade has been roughly tracking GDP. And with GDP forecast to grow at a meager 2.5 percent this year, prospects for a meaningful recovery are dim.’
‘In the face of such dire conditions, the talk is all about consolidation and cutting costs. The few maritime companies that pay dividends are reducing or suspending them. Share repurchases are being cancelled. Managers have adopted a siege mentality and are busy reducing staff, scrapping or parking vessels, and squirreling cash. Shippers have been hit by what many are calling a “perfect storm” of negative factors – vessel oversupply, falling demand and shrinking asset values.’
http://www.maritime-executive.com/magazine/nothing-is-moving
‘its problems were exacerbated by an oversupply of vessels ordered during the post-Great Recession boom years and still being delivered today’
Again, heck of a job Janet. You too Bernanke, we’ll never forget your part in this.
Retail rents coming down across Manhattan: REBNY
The Real Deal Magazine-6 hours ago
Rents in 10 of Manhattan’s top 12 retail corridors dropped over the past year, according to real estate group’s New York Spring Retail Report.
Iowa Farmland Cash Rent Declines 6.5% for 2016
AgWeb-6 hours ago
The survey of actual cash rents, conducted in late-April, found the state average rent declined $16 to an average of $230 an acre. That average is down $40
Sharjah rents slump 5.7% in Q1, set to fall further this year
ArabianBusiness.com-11 hours ago
Its Spring 2016 Property Market Outlook report said the Q1 slump has dragged the annualised rate of change in rents down to 8.3 percent.
“The survey of actual cash rents, conducted in late-April, found the state average rent declined $16 to an average of $230 an acre. That average is down $40″
Cash rents. Cash rent for housing counts toward computing imputed rents that go into making up (good choice of words, no?) our fine nation’s GDP.
So, do cash rents for farmland do the same? Anyone know?
If GDP is supposed to measure production and production is measured in units (i.e. bushels of grain harvested, barrels of oil pumped, etc) and these units of production hold steady from one year to another year then the GDP figures will still be allowed to go up and down if prices for these units (bushels, or barrels) are allowed to go up and down.
IOW GDP is, at root, a function of price and not of true production - true production as measured by units that are produced rather that the prices that are placed on the units that are produced.
The Indy Star reports from Indiana. “Tyler and Brenda Ewigleben found out firsthand how competitive the Indianapolis-area housing market is when they decided to buy their first home this spring. When they found a house they liked, they knew their initial offer on the two-bedroom ranch with a loft would have to blow away the seller. ‘The home we ended up purchasing,’ Tyler said, “we actually offered $10,000 over the asking price because we were aware of multiple offers. We felt like we had to if we wanted our offer to be taken seriously.’”
Can we officially call it a bubble now…?
“we actually offered $10,000 over the asking price because we were aware of multiple offers. We felt like we had to if we wanted our offer to be taken seriously.’”
Just like Ms. Vestal of PDX sez “You’z gots to roll wit it”.
And to all the HBB’ers -
Given I am moving outta here in late July - I need to change my handle here. Currently Rj Chicago - thoughts?
And don’t worry I won’t be like HA who seems to change his moniker more than his bloomin underwear here!!!
How about “rj at large”?
“rj adrift”?
How about ‘Windy City Expat’?
The wind picked up and blew you right outta there!
“Windy City Blown Adrift”
EnragedOne is fitting.
RJ Nationwide
Depends on where you headed.
I was Bill in New Tampa, Bill In Maryland, Bill in LA, Bill in Phoenix. Sometimes I still use Bill, Just south of Irvine because that is where I am.
But I’m a selfish hoarder…
the Kinks — Village Green Preservation Society (full album):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc7dmu4G8oc&list=PL40xdWb-2paezlG0eNJH6EuYDqIaZb3nj
Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers (New York City 1975) One Track Mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrj2Mmc6S9g
Northwest Heights(Portland), OR Housing Affordability Improves As Prices Plummet 8% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/northwest-heights-portland-or/home-values/
Excellent news!
China’s cratering is going to be epic. Got popcorn?
http://www.businessinsider.com/weak-april-chinese-economic-data-2016-5
If you have to borrow for 15 or 30 years, you can’t afford it nor is it affordable.
Never was much of a Hall & Oates fan, but I think I’m going to find one of their songs I can listen to.
Daryl Hall Slams SJW Academia: ‘Now, There’s a Hotbed of Idiocy’
Responds to accusations of culturally appropriating black music.
5.13.2016
News
Trey Sanchez
Daryl Hall, one-half of the world’s once-most successful pop duo Hall & Oates, doesn’t take kindly to those who would accuse him of “cultural appropriation” for copying black styles of music, telling them they should shut their mouths in no uncertain terms.
“Anyone who says that should shut the f*** up,” Hall stated in an interview with Salon.
Hall is enjoying a resurgence of popularity from his 1970s and ’80s heyday, a time when there wasn’t a radio station tuned in anywhere in America that wasn’t playing one of the group’s hits. Since 2007, though, Hall has hosted a popular live music Internet show called “Live from Daryl’s House” and it features some of the world’s greatest and most popular musicians, as well as current pop stars.
Hall’s voice is one that works for multiple styles of music and the songs he has written span the genres of pop, soul and R&B. He’s currently working on a record that he dubs “a real soul record.” That’s where the Salon article ran off the rails and sent Hall into a frustrated rant against those who find everything offensive.
Here is the exchange. Enjoy:
SALON: One of the current debates is over “cultural appropriation” – the idea that white people should not appropriate the culture of ethnic and racial minorities. I know that you don’t like the term “blue eyed soul.” Have you followed this conversation?
HALL: Are you trying to say that I don’t own the style of music that I grew up with and sing? I grew up with this music. It is not about being black or white. That is the most naïve attitude I’ve ever heard in my life. That is so far in the past, I hope, for everyone’s sake. It isn’t even an issue to discuss. The music that you listened to when you grew up is your music. It has nothing to do with “cultural appropriation.”
SALON: I agree with you entirely, because…
HALL: I’m glad that you do, because anyone who says that should shut the f*** up.
SALON: Well, this entire critique is coming back…
HALL: I’m sorry to hear it. Who is making these critiques? Who do they write for? What are their credentials to give an opinion like that? Who are they?
SALON: Much of it is academic.
HALL: Well, then they should go back to school. Academia? Now, there’s a hotbed of idiocy.
SALON: Anyone who knows about music, about culture in general, understands that everything is much more natural. Everything is a mixture.
HALL: We live in America. That’s our entire culture. Our culture is a blend. It isn’t split up into groups. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool – worse than a fool – a dangerous fool.
Rock on, Daryl.
I guess I’ll have to go with this.
Rich Girl-Hall & Oates - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mdIWaRi-7c - 361k -
None of those from the frankfurt school who blame whites for everything that is wrong in the world point out Prince, Michael Jackson or a slew of other black men that become white women as they grow older as examples of cultural appropriation. Wonder why?