May 24, 2016

A Good Many Of These Have Been Bought By Investors

The Sydney Morning Herald reports from Australia. “In the hyperactive world of online Chinese property forums, prospective buyers swap tips on real estate trends. But the talk on Australia-focused chat threads have been tinged with one worry after another. Chief among those worries are the increasing difficulty to get large amounts of cash out of China, and a crackdown from the big four Australian banks on loans obtained based on overseas income. ‘I bought an off-the-plan apartment and now the settlement date is getting close. My agent and loan planner told me that banks now are not accepting loan applications with overseas income,’ asked one poster on Tigtag. ‘They also say I need to make a face-to-face interview if I apply for loan. I’m now back in China so I’ll have to authorise an agent to manage the handover [in Australia]. So they suggest I sell the property before settlement. Is this right?’”

“Wang Peng, general manager of overseas-focused Chinese property group UNME, says the tightening of rules aimed at foreign buyers were being interpreted by Chinese buyers as a potential signal of more to come. The crackdown on loans substantiated by overseas income has the greatest potential to impact all but the wealthiest of Chinese buyers, says Wang, who owns investment properties in Australia himself. He says many buyers had bought off-the-plan properties but are now scrambling to find alternative loans before settlement, often forced to pay higher downpayments. ‘This is the most disadvantageous part to overseas investors. The impact is quite big and very direct.’”

From MarketWatch on China. “The slumping property markets in many Chinese cities are generating one kind of boom: in legal disputes. Even as the beleaguered property market shows signs of inching out of a two-year property downturn, some home buyers have begun suing property developers over facilities advertised at the time of purchase that were never built. Developers, meanwhile, are taking local governments to court for refunds of money spent to buy land when prices were soaring.”

“In Yuyao, a small city south of Shanghai, a group of nine home buyers last year sued state-owned Poly Property Group Co., alleging false advertising. Home prices have been falling in Yuyao, according to local residents and property developers. The plaintiffs said Poly failed to build a shopping mall, theater, school and other amenities included in the marketing for Poly Jordan International. Initially, the company offered a settlement that included 50,000 yuan in cash and a parking lot, but the plaintiffs declined. ‘We’ve tried to talk to the developer many times to resolve this but they never offered fair compensation,’ said Zheng Zhixin, one of the plaintiffs, who bought an apartment in 2012. ‘Litigation appears the only way left.’”

The Financial Express in India. “Inventories of luxury apartments in Mumbai remain high with real estate watchers counting close to 2,300 unsold apartments across the city. Each of these spacious apartments is priced at a minimum of Rs 10 crore taking the total value of the flats to an estimated Rs 23,000 crore. According to data sourced from PropEquity, the unsold inventory in projects coming up in just the five micro markets of tony south Mumbai — Lower Parel, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai Central, Prabhadevi and Parel, stands at a staggering 928 apartments.”

“Because unsold inventory is in advanced stages of construction, some of it commands a premium to the launch price. The value of unsold inventory in these five micro-markets could be in the range of R10,000 crore, if one assumes they’re between 4,000 sq ft and 7,000 sq ft, and fetch the current market price. Ashutosh Limaye, head (research), JLL India believes sales of these top-end homes could be ‘just about okay’ over the next three to four quarters. However, as he points out, ‘a good many of these have been bought by investors.’ That means these may remain unoccupied for a long time.”

From Gulf News on Dubai. “Dubai’s high-end apartment rentals are facing extreme duress, with the number of enquiries recording a marked decline in March. Landlords with units in upscale high-rises in Downtown, Business Bay and those on Shaikh Zayed Road are reacting by dropping rents or being forced to leave their units vacant for longer, according to a new update from Asteco.”

“‘On SZ Road where rents for a two-bed might have been Dh160,000-Dh190,00, landlords are being forced to bring it down if they need to retain the tenant,’ said Julia Knibbs, Associate Director – Research & Consultancy at Asteco Property Management. ‘A similar trend is happening in Business Bay, though maybe not to a similar extent. Wherever a tenancy contract is deemed as too expensive, tenants are demanding a downgrade. And in most instances they are getting it.’”

From Fulham SW6 in the UK. “Fulham’s property market continued to cool off in the frosty first three months of 2016, with prices falling and the volume of sales down - mainly due to the lack of flats changing hands. The overall average price fell by a modest 2.9% from £1,124,412 between October and December to £1,078,996 between January and March. Terraced houses also fell by 2.9% from £1,742, 138 in the previous quarter to £1,642,130. The average flat price however fell from £813,530 to £694,086 - a drop of 14.3%.”

“Also alarming for local agents was the reduction in the number of sales - down by almost a half from 230 to 126. And again flats and apartments were hardest hit, down from 153 to 74. This slowdown seems surprising, since there are two large developments in Fulham with apartments for sale. The top of the market also remained slow withthe highest priced sale so far this year is a six bedroom house on Broomhouse Road which went £3,010,000 - having previously been on the market for £3,350,000.”

“Josh Woodfin of local estate agent Brik, says the slowdown has a number of reasons: ‘Many wealthy overseas buyers have been deterred by high house prices in London, a weak eurozone economy and the fact that the pound has strengthened significantly against the euro in the past year, making it even more expensive for many Europeans to buy property in the English capital.’”

The Daily Mail in the UK. “For those of us stuck in the mundane world of mortgages and rent, it’s hard to feel sorry for them, but spare a thought for celebrities trying — and failing — to sell their homes. Palatial pads that would once have been snapped up within days are lingering on the market for months at a time, forcing sellers to slash the asking price. Shirley Valentine star Tom Conti has reduced the asking price for his house to £15million, from £17.5million. Meanwhile Ricky Gervais has reduced his from £7.7million to £6.9million.”

“Many thought that former Take That star Robbie Williams had overpaid when he bought his seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom Wiltshire manor house for £8million in 2008. Only 18 months after buying it, he tried to sell for £7.5million — and it’s been on and off the market ever since. In 2013, it had an asking price of £5.5million. Now it’s believed to be quietly for sale again at the same price — a hefty loss on what he paid.”

“Former hell-raiser Noel Gallagher’s pretty West London home — on the market since last October — is now on the market for £11.5million, down from £13.5million. He has three other properties, but wants to ‘upgrade’. The Oasis singer has complained that the home is proving hard to shift in the current market, saying: ‘If there are any wealthy Russians reading this story, give me a call, please.’”




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232 Comments »

Comment by frankie
2016-05-24 02:52:47

A sugar shortage has forced Coca-Cola to stop producing soft drinks in Venezuela amid an escalating food and energy shortage.

Coke said that suppliers in Venezuela will “temporarily cease operations due to a lack of raw materials”.

The announcement comes after the country’s biggest brewer, Empresas Polar, closed plants due to a barley shortage.

Venezuela’s economy has contracted sharply as oil prices plunge.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson said the company would continue producing sugarless drinks such as Coca-Cola Light (Diet Coke).

“We are engaging with suppliers, government authorities and our associates to take the necessary actions for a prompt solution,” she said.

Sugarcane production has been falling due to price controls and rising production costs, as well as problems in obtaining fertiliser.

As a result, many smaller farmers have turned to other crops that are not price controlled and thus generate higher income.

Venezuela is expected to produce 430,000 tonnes of sugarcane in 2016/17, down from 450,000 tonnes for the previous 12 months, and import 850,000 tonnes of raw and refined sugar, according to USDA figures.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36365336

Well if John Yudkin was right this is probably doing them a favour.

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 05:39:25

A lush paradise where anything grows sitting on more oil than Saudi Arabia.

And because of liberal/progressive economic policies - they are literally sitting in the dark while starving.

There is a lesson in there somewhere.

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 06:42:52

100% created by the Venezualan gov. It’s the govt imposed price controls that are creating shortages for everything. And it’s considered a crime to buy any items on the black market.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 07:04:32

There is a lesson in there somewhere.

The lesson is, you reap what you vote.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 13:51:53

Venezuela is the most corrupt country in Latin America and Uruguay the least, according to the latest global Corruption Perceptions Index released Wednesday.

In 2007, Venezuelan authorities arrested Eligio Cedeño, the former president of two banks, on the charge of stealing $27 million from the state’s foreign currency administrative agency, CADIVI, through a false import contract.

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Comment by anklepants
2016-05-24 17:04:43

I think we’ve found a new Lola.

 
 
 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 13:37:14

cheaters, not liberals or conservatives at fault. get off your lame drivel, you are a bitter old man. 2fruit u r ruing this forum with your whining

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 17:06:38

lol@lola

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Comment by Hard Rain
2016-05-24 03:30:25

Mass. home sales in April grow at fastest pace since 2012

Sales of single-family homes jumped 34.7 percent compared to the same month last year, according to data from The Warren Group, while condos surged 18.6 percent

All the activity is driving up prices, too. The median sales price for a single-family home in Massachusetts is now $336,850, up 3.9 percent compared to last year. The median condo price is $321,000, up 7.9 percent.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/05/24/spring-fever-for-home-sales/2odddTSf1jGT3RVRKFHPSK/story.html

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 05:04:40

Which results in this;

Massachusetts Foreclosure Starts Jump 45.6 Percent in February Marking the 24th Consecutive Month of Increases

http://www.thewarrengroup.com/2016/03/foreclosure-starts-jump-45-6-percent-in-february-marking-the-24th-consecutive-month-of-increases/

 
Comment by ibbots
2016-05-24 09:17:11

“Home values in the Dallas-Fort Worth area jumped 12.6 percent from April 2015, according to a new report by Zillow.

The D-FW gain was behind only Denver (15.2 percent) and Portland (15.1 percent) in the latest nationwide comparison.”

“With a median price of $183,700, the D-FW area was just slightly behind the U.S. median of $187,000. North Texas still had the lowest home prices among the markets with the greatest price gains.”

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2016/05/d-fw-home-prices-take-off-in-latest-national-comparison.html/?_ga=1.183484134.1978560661.1459350372

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 09:41:21

Are you sure?

North Dallas, TX Housing Prices Plunge 17% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/north-dallas-dallas-tx/home-values/

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-05-24 19:12:21

And yet, Dallas (in its entirety) is up 5% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/dallas-tx/home-values/

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Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-25 04:54:14

Are you sure?

23% Of Dallas Are House Sellers Slashed Their Price At Least Once

Dallas, TX Real Estate and Homes for Sale-15,166 Homes

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Dallas_TX/radius-5

Dallas, TX Real Estate and Homes for Sale-3,451 Homes

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Dallas_TX/shw-pr/radius-5

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Neuromance
2016-05-24 03:55:26

“May 24 Toll Brothers Inc’s quarterly revenue rose nearly 31 percent, beating analysts’ estimates, as the company sold more luxury homes at higher prices, mainly in the West market and California.

Toll Brothers said the average price of homes sold increased to $855,500 from $713,500 a year earlier, while the number of homes sold rose to 1,304 from 1,195.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/toll-brothers-results-idUSL3N18L31B

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 06:21:44

Must be getting close to the time when the smart money shorts Toll and other luxury builders…

 
Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2016-05-24 06:59:42

“increased to $855,500 from $713,500″

It needed to be repeated. Insanity.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-05-24 09:00:36

Prices and sales going up. Shouldn’t be happening. Maybe here or there it wouldn’t be significant, but year after year?

Comment by cactus
2016-05-24 09:52:25

Prices and sales going up. Shouldn’t be happening.’

interest rates are too low.

The whole world is doing it and the money flows uncontrollable at any gamble or whim inflating it way above what wages would support.

They are blowing it. The experiment is a failure.

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Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:22:12

The smart bet is to attach yourself parasitically to the fools borrowing and spending the money.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 17:56:57

We live in Bizarro World, thanks to Goldman’s adjuncts at the Fed and their trillions in printing-press confetti showered on their oligarch pals to speculate with or buy shares in their own insanely overpriced companies.

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Comment by oxide
2016-05-24 14:29:26

This is definitely insane. I’ve seen these Tool Brother enclaves. WhoTF is spending $855K on a mass-produced POS in an arrogant developer PUD? $855K will buy you a VERY nice older home, even in the DC area.

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 14:59:28

There isn’t a SFR on the planet that can’t be built for a quarter of that amount.

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Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:23:44

Second generation yuppies trying to impress other second generation yuppies.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2016-05-24 16:43:27

Paying 500 to 1000% of construction cost is what manic people like to do.

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Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 04:32:34

No “pent-up demand” for $500,000 starter homes happening here:

“Denver is one of the favorite destinations for millennials looking to launch their careers. It is also one of the toughest places in the country for them to escape renting, according to a survey from Apartment List.

Nationally, a college-educated person who is under age 36 with no student debt needs about 5.3 years on average to save the 20 percent down payment typically required on a median-priced home, according to the survey of more than 30,000 renters.

In metro Denver, that same renter will require 14.8 years to get enough set aside for a median-priced home.

Normally, those without student loans can save more for a home each month, but Denver is an exception. A millennial with student loans needs about 11.8 years. Millennials with no college education in Denver need 23.7 years on average.”

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/05/23/millennials-at-high-risk-of-always-renting/

Comment by Avg Joe
2016-05-24 12:22:47

I moved to Denver in the early 90s and paid 265 a month for a 1-bedroom near Governors Park.

Now? Craziness.

 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 04:39:12

“Four Latino families being evicted from a mobile-home park because at least one family member is undocumented and doesn’t have a Social Security number filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday that advocates said could set a national precedent in fair-housing law.

The families, who live at the Waples Mobile Home Park in Fairfax County, say they and more than a dozen of their neighbors are being forced to move because the park’s managers are refusing to renew their leases if any resident in the household lacks proof of legal status.

Attorneys for the families are alleging that the requirement for all tenants to have a Social Security card, visa and related documents or a passport is discriminatory because it disproportionately affects Latinos.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/undocumented-latinos-and-their-families-sue-after-evictions/2016/05/23/f11a1a88-20e4-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html

Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 06:19:04

“Attorneys for the families are alleging that the requirement for all tenants to have a Social Security card, visa and related documents or a passport is discriminatory because it disproportionately affects Latinos.”

And just why does it disproportionately affect Latinos?

“a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday that advocates said could set a national precedent in fair-housing law.”

BS. Their lease is up. The landlord should be able to renew or not renew, at their option, for whatever reason.

Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 06:37:52

It’s the Washington Post, why would you expect them to make any distinction between legal status and ethnicity?

Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 06:55:59

The landlord was dumb. Should have just said they weren’t renewing the lease and told them to move on.

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 06:44:17

The landlord should be able to renew or not renew, at their option, for whatever reason.

Well, that’s your opinion. The law may disagree.

Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 07:15:36

So what does the law say? Isn’t that the purpose of a lease? To have a finite rental period? If not, why bother, just rent in perpetuity, at the renter’s option to stay or leave whenever they want. Or maybe the landlord’s option, where people have to pay rent until the landlord decides to release them. Could go both ways, eh?

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Comment by scdave
2016-05-24 07:42:42

So what does the law say ??

The federal Fair Housing Acts apply to all aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship. A landlord may not:


advertise or make any statement that indicates a limitation or preference based on race, religion, or any other protected category

falsely deny that a rental unit is available

set more restrictive standards for selecting tenants or refuse to rent to members of certain groups

before or during the tenancy, set different terms, conditions, or privileges for rental of a dwelling unit, such as requiring larger deposits of some tenants or adopting an inconsistent policy of responding to late rent payments

terminate a tenancy for a discriminatory reason.


 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 08:08:17

Ok, but when the lease ends, where does it say the landlord has to renew it if he doesn’t want to?

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-05-24 09:10:12

bill…….only in nyc when you have a rent controlled or stabilized lease one of the benefits is a guaranteed 1 or 2 year renewal forever… remember the owner willingly signed on the dotted line to buy the building with these restrictions on rent.

 
Comment by Ethan in nova
2016-05-24 09:27:47

Leases normally allow for termination for criminal activity. If theyre in the usa illegally, there ya go.

 
Comment by scdave
2016-05-24 10:50:19

where does it say the landlord has to renew it if he doesn’t want to ??

Not saying he can’t…You just better be sure there is non-discriminorty reasoning behind the decision not to renew…Penalties are pretty severe including jail time…

 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 12:07:15

How about if the landlord just wants a different tenant?

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-05-24 13:14:06

My guess is that it depends on why and who.

If the “who” is a protected class, then you better have a reasonable “why”–or else you are opening yourself up to a potential fight.

If the “who” is not protected, then my guess is that you can do what you want.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 13:15:43

The question was answered for you above at 07:42:42.

 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 13:46:37

No, it wasn’t answered. It was partially answered by dj, but not by the post you referenced. It’s not clear that this is a rent controlled complex. If it is, maybe there’s some grounds. If it isn’t, well, if a lease is up, it’s up. Who says they have to renew it with the same tenants? Isn’t that the point of having a lease with a finite term? When it ends, it ends. After that, it’s a re-negotiation. Or not. Unless it is rent controlled.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 13:48:42

The term protected class is often misunderstood.

Protected Class: The groups protected from the employment discrimination by law. These groups include men and women on the basis of sex; any group which shares a common race, religion, color, or national origin; people over 40; and people with physical or mental handicaps. Every U.S. citizen is a member of some protected class, and is entitled to the benefits of EEO law. However, the EEO laws were passed to correct a history of unfavorable treatment of women and minority group members.

http://www.archives.gov/eeo/terminology.html

 
Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 14:16:56

Irrelevant.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 14:43:39

It’s about the reason for not renewing the lease. New policies can’t be put into place which affect tenants or potential tenants differently depending on their race, religion, etc. It’s part of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and has nothing to do with rent control.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-05-24 16:52:24

This is pretty funny. Should it be illegal to discriminate against criminals?

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 17:59:05

THey are not “criminals.” Per the Obama Department of Justice, they are “justice-involved individuals” and a key votes-for-entitlements Democrat dependency bloc.

 
 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 06:43:53

If they are Zimmerman “white-hispanics” they don’t stand a chance….

Comment by taxpayers
2016-05-24 09:58:15

Bahhhhhhhhhhh
whitey scks

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:29:39

You aren’t a failure because you’re white, 2 fruit, you’re a failure because you’re a crybaby.

 
 
Comment by taxpayers
2016-05-24 09:56:34

trumped

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:25:20

‘Undocumented’

LOL

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 05:25:56

Our NEA indoctrination mills are stepping up their war on excellence. We must all be egalitarian mediocrities for our People’s Republic of New Democracy to rise from the ashes of the former American Republic.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-more-valedictorians-why-one-school-board-ended-204226830.html?nhp=1

Comment by aNYCdj
2016-05-24 06:33:18

maybe we should ban from government employment all ivy league top 20 schools MBA grads until they can prove they have the same level of critical thinking skills people on this board have.

it all boils down to did they know about the housing scams or were they too clueless to get it?

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 05:29:30

The German sheeple, like their US counterparts, voted for oligarch-globalist sponsored “fundamental transformation.” Now they’re getting it good and hard.

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/23/germany-registers-surge-crimes-right-wing-radicals/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 05:33:11

We must massively increase our importation of dependency voters to hasten the establishment of our Permanent Democrat Supermajority and give the DNC free rein to install its kleptocracy.

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/05/23/hillary-clinton-vows-to-push-amnesty-in-her-first-100-days/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 05:37:11

The Oligopoly cannot disarm the serfs until it first registers their guns. It’s for the children…forward!

http://www.ammoland.com/2016/05/washington-post-disarmists-want-gun-registration/#axzz49UVWO9s1

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:35:20

Your 1911 is meaningless against a predator drone. Give up on that moronic argument already.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:02:57

I’m not concerned about Predator drones. I am concerned about the erosion of Constitutional rights.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 05:41:31

If you vote against unelected, unaccountable agents of a supranational oligarch-controlled political body running your country, you are unpatriotic. The Masters of the Universe and their bankster wirepullers said so.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/24/eu-referendum-tories-threaten-david-cameron-with-no-confidence-v/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 05:43:45

“Debt relief” means taxpayers are forced yet again to make whole the banksters’ non-performing loans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/23/markets-welcome-greek-austerity-vote-as-creditors-prepare-to-unl/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 05:48:01

Despite the rise of the “far right,” most Austrians have been brainwashed into voting for the status quo.

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/23/whoever-loves-austria-sht-president-elect-beat-nationalist-hofer-used-anti-patriotic-slogans/

Comment by Young Deezy
2016-05-24 07:42:48

There are whisperings in certain corners of the internet ( /pol/ being one) that the Austrian elections were rigged, and there seems to be something to the assertion….

Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 08:20:06

Mark F*ckerberg caught on a hot mic with Angela Merkel in September 2015 promising to censor Facebook on immigration and /r/european just got quarantined on Reddit just for discussing it.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:37:23

That boy is all about the money, Angie must have ponied up a billion or so.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by rms
2016-05-24 12:39:05

“The IMF says it will not reduce Greece’s debt by a single penny. It will keep the debt in place.”

Time to pull an Iceland on these blue-eyed bankers.

 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 05:52:13

“Mary Lou Bruner has suggested that President Obama was a prostitute and that humans roamed the earth with dinosaurs, all without hurting her status as the frontrunner for an open seat on the Texas Board of Education.

If elected, Bruner will sit on the 15-member state board of education, which sets the state curriculum and suggests a list of textbooks for schools. Because of its size, Texas has had a large influence on textbooks used across the United States, though the state’s influence has waned in recent years.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/texass-mary-lou-bruner-might-be-unstoppable-2016-5

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 06:39:27

1. It is ironic that we know more about Mary Lou Bruner history/background than we do about obamas. Could obama even get a security clearance if he was not in politics?

2. I roamed with a dinosaur last week. An alligator. Sharks have been around since dinosaur times too. What is your point?

3. A backlash is coming against the democrats and obama. Just buckle in a enjoy the ride. Your head is really going to explode when President Trump just ignores laws he doesn’t like, just makes up laws he wishes he has and appoints “czars” as he pleases. An audits all his political enemies. Fun times indeed.

Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 06:51:27

That’s a lot of nonsense packed into three points there. Maybe you know more about Mary Lou Bruner than you know about Barack Obama. There must be vastly more information out there about the president than there is on this woman in Texas. Also, alligators are not dinosaurs and all the pundits are currently predicting victory for Hillary Clinton.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-05-24 09:29:23

“There must be vastly more information out there about the president than there is on this woman”

The information (factual or not) the machine wants you to see about the president anyway. Also, Hillary is sinking like a swimmer with swollen cankles that are filled with concrete.

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Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 07:19:03

“Obama was a prostitute”

Was?

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:39:04

Dude, are you getting oxygen?

 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 05:56:04

Remember democrats tell us there is no voter fraud and no need for voter ID.

———–

CBS2 Investigation Uncovers Votes Being Cast From Grave Year After Year
CBS2 | May 23, 2016 11:20 PM | By David Goldstein

A comparison of records by David Goldstein, investigative reporter for CBS2/KCAL9, has revealed hundreds of so-called dead voters in Southern California, a vast majority of them in Los Angeles County.

“He took a lot of time choosing his candidates,” said Annette Givans of her father, John Cenkner.

Cenkner died in Palmdale in 2003. Despite this, records show that he somehow voted from the grave in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010.

But he’s not the only one.

CBS2 compared millions of voting records from the California Secretary of State’s office with death records from the Social Security Administration and found hundreds of so-called dead voters.

Specifically, 265 in Southern California and a vast majority of them, 215, in Los Angeles County alone.

Comment by Young Deezy
2016-05-24 07:44:50

But voter ID is rayciss!

 
Comment by redmondjp
2016-05-24 14:51:14

And wouldn’t you know it, but a majority of those dead voters are pulling the ‘D’ lever!

 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-05-24 05:56:08

Golden, CO Housing Affordability Improves As Prices Plummet 11% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/golden-co/home-values/

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 05:59:26

Thanks, Ben, for another insightful thread on the gathering financial storm in real estate markets around the globe. One can’t help but wonder whether the day is fast approaching when the MSM will feel compelled by an overwhelming preponderance of evidence to replace its steady drivel of happy talk with an open and honest acknowledgment of a global real estate bust.

Comment by TheFabulousMoolah
2016-05-24 07:34:20

Toll Bros doesnt seem to be busting, selling more houses and at much higher prices. Quite disheartening.

Does a vote for either one help more here? I really don’t know either candidate’s housing policy.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 22:19:34

“I really don’t know either candidate’s housing policy.”

Trump = real estate developer and son of a landlord

Clinton = wife of former president on whose watch Housing Bubble 1.0 inflated, who plans to put said former president in charge of economic policy

Which of them seems unlikely to funnel bundles of money into the coffers of the Real Estate Industrial Complex?

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 06:10:38

Never, ever trust a “former” Goldman Sachs official to choose the people over the banks. Or a candidate promising “hope ‘n change” whose #2 backer is Goldman Sachs, for that matter. Or a candidate who has raked in $153 million from speeches to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms.

https://mishtalk.com/2016/05/23/spanish-lies-leaked-letter-shows-rajoy-promised-ec-budget-cuts-while-promising-voters-no-cuts/

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:40:16

Hillary is Goldman’s bottom bitch.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:04:13

So is Yellen the Felon.

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Comment by snake charmer
2016-05-24 12:00:38

For reasons like this, the West has totally lost faith in its political leadership and is looking for radical alternatives.

Interestingly, now that neoliberal politicians have reached the end of the line and no longer can govern by consent, I’ve noticed trial balloons being floated to the effect that democracy is not such a good thing after all. Alexander Hamilton is invoked. (Is this, or the musical, the real reason why the plan to take him off the $10 bill was scrapped?)

No doubt any upcoming suspension of electoral democracy will be presented as temporary and awaiting the imminent return of normalcy, kind of like how the Fed has described its monetary policy for years.

Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 13:04:32

I’ve noticed trial balloons being floated to the effect that democracy is not such a good thing after all.

This sentiment not new, though it may be getting stronger. The argument that Founding Fathers wanted a republic, not a democracy, has been around a long time. Recently someone linked to something requiring that people pass a test before being allowed to vote.

Comment by redmondjp
2016-05-24 14:52:27

How about going back to only landowners being allowed to vote?

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 15:11:23

Yeah, laws like that served the same purpose.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:43:06

Would depend on the test. Basic critical thinking would exclude the majority of the electorate, and that would be hugely positive. Logic is non partisan.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:06:58

For reasons like this, the West has totally lost faith in its political leadership and is looking for radical alternatives.

I think you need to make a distinction between stupid people, who comprise 95% of the ‘Murican electorate, and the intelligent, thoughtful minority, who most emphatically are not looking for “radicals” of any stripe. We just want someone who puts the interests of the country and its people ahead of the interests of Goldman Sachs and the .1% who are robbing them blind. It’s not that complicated.

 
 
Comment by rms
2016-05-24 23:40:11

Pardon Jon Corzine!

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 06:15:06

Once we have our Permanent Democrat Supermajority, the kleptocrats can enjoy full and total impunity for their criminality, because they’re working for us…and the children.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/05/23/terry-mcauliffe-clinton-bagman-fbi-investigation/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 06:18:50

A preview of coming attractions once our Permanent Democrat Supermajority and the collectivist comrades and kleptocrats of the DNC run out of other people’s money to steal. Forward!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/24/venezuela-crisis-basic-food-shortages

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 06:19:02

Dumb question of the day:

Is it safe to assume that current levels of investor-owned residential real estate in the U.S. and many other westernized nations are at historically unprecedented levels of penetration?

This question is important to the way forward, as the primary motivation for this group to own is to make a positive return on a sale, rather than to capture the value of a long-term flow of housing services, as in the case of a traditional owner-occcupant. Hence if prices flatten or head south, there will be a strong incentive for the investor horde to collectively try to exit rather than to become the next generation of real estate victims who got stucco.

References to information on levels of investor penetration in residential real estate through time are of interest.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 06:21:16

The stupid, it burns: Bernie’s Free Sh*t Army backers want Bernie Madoff for VP. Forward!

http://www.infowars.com/bernie-sanders-supporters-endorse-bernie-madoff-for-vp/

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 06:28:25

Wouldn’t Madoff be a more logical choice for Treasury Secretary?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 07:06:56

He’d be an improvement over Lew.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 06:24:57

“He says many buyers had bought off-the-plan properties but are now scrambling to find alternative loans before settlement, often forced to pay higher downpayments.”

What is ‘off-the-plan’?

Comment by In Colorado
2016-05-24 11:08:38

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-plan_property

“Off-plan property is a property before a structure has been constructed upon it. Pre-constructions are usually marketed to real estate developers and to early adopters as developments so that the purchaser can secure much better finance terms from their lenders.”

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 06:30:46

Obama’s legacy will be ugly when looked at in historical perspective.

And remember 2banana’s rule on buying a house.

Never, ever buy a house in a long term run democrat city with insane public unions and a huge FSA.

———————–

The Nationwide Crime Wave Is Building
The Wall Street Journal.com | May 23, 2016 | Heather Mac Donald

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has again drawn the wrath of the White House for calling attention to the rising violence in urban areas. Homicides increased 9% in the largest 63 cities in the first quarter of 2016; nonfatal shootings were up 21%, according to a Major Cities Chiefs Association survey. Those increases come on top of last year’s 17% rise in homicides in the 56 biggest U.S. cities, with 10 heavily black cities showing murder spikes above 60%.

“I was very worried about it last fall,” Mr. Comey told a May 11 news conference. “And I am in many ways more worried” now, he said, because the violent-crime rate is going up even faster this year.

Mr. Comey’s sin, according to the White House, was to posit that this climbing urban violence was the result of a falloff in proactive policing, a hypothesis I first put forward in these pages last year, dubbing it the “Ferguson effect.” The FBI director used the term “viral video effect,” but it is a distinction without a difference. “There’s a perception,” Mr. Comey said during his news conference, “that police are less likely to do the marginal additional policing that suppresses crime—the getting out of your car at 2 in the morning and saying to a group of guys, ‘What are you doing here?’ ”

The reaction to Mr. Comey’s heresy was swift. White House spokesman Josh Earnest immediately accused the FBI director of being “irresponsible and ultimately counterproductive” by drawing “conclusions based on anecdotal evidence.”

Mr. Comey’s dressing-down was the second time he has been rebuked…

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 06:52:23

When felons, er, “justice-involved individuals” constitute a core Democrat voting bloc, straight talk on crime will get you into trouble.

 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 06:34:27

“Sidewalk tents have taken everyone in San Francisco by surprise. It’s not your imagination, they’re springing up like mushrooms.

Sam Dodge, Mayor Ed Lee’s Director of Housing Opportunity, agrees when people tell him there have never been so many tent campsites in the city.

“It certainly feels that way to me,” Dodge told me.

Dodge has seen it all. Tents used for drug injection, bike chop shops and prostitution. There’s even an enterprising guy who has two tents — one to live in and one to rent out as an income property. How very San Francisco.

But that’s Dodge’s next point. It isn’t just San Francisco.

“It is up and down the West Coast,” he said. “Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/nevius/article/Sidewalk-campsites-frustrate-neighbors-city-7940982.php?t=2f810e2d50&cmpid=gatehp

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 06:42:17

Bigger and bigger government with more and more regulations and higher and higher taxes can SOLVE this…

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 06:54:28

Yes, but the stock market is up 163 points last time I checked, so it’s all good as the Fed’s “No Billionaire Left Behind” monetary policies are enriching our oligarchs beyond measure.

 
Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2016-05-24 07:24:12

I now carry a knife on my bike rides on a taxpayer funded bike path that’s littered for 1.5 miles with tent cities that the city seems to have little interest in clearing or policing.

Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2016-05-24 07:27:19

…and my wife and I took notice of a new tent city right underneath an apartment complex just south of downtown Portland. Not sure why they picked that site (easy come-an-go privileges?) but they are popping up everywhere.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:51:25

Hobo density is a leading indicator… Winter is coming…

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:09:58

We have panhandlers on every corner in my AO, and a visible increase every year in vagrancy and bums, not to mention mentally disturbed veterans of neocon wars who can no longer function in society.

 
 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-05-24 07:33:53

Too bad it’s not Arizona, you could carry a gun.

I know a leftist in the PNW who is socialist on just about everything but owns a handgun, might be (”gasp”) disobeying gun laws, but BFD. Owning firearms and ammo is a right regardless of what a scrap of paper says.

Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2016-05-24 09:04:19

No, you can get a CCW here in OR. I haven’t gone that route yet and probably wouldn’t for the purpose I described. Most of these folks are benign and keep to themselves. Still, they litter everywhere and DGAF about it.

And I wouldn’t consider the area safe for women or families, which is why it p!sses me off. Taxpayers funded (many against their will probably) this trail and taxpayer funded police forces seem unwilling to do anything about it.

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Comment by A Comrade of Proven Worth
2016-05-24 18:13:33

Citizen! Your disparaging remarks toward Hillary voters and Democrat Party stalwarts is duly noted in your dossier! When we install our Permanent Democrat Supermajority, such politically incorrect observations as yours will be grounds for a stint in a re-education camp! Forward!

 
 
 
Comment by ibbots
2016-05-24 09:22:55

We had a tent city in Dallas under an interstate overpass. It even had a functional store, with sodas, crackers, and stuff. Two homicides in a month or so compelled the city to shut it down.

Comment by redmondjp
2016-05-24 15:02:05

Seattle has a massive tent city underneath I-5. It’s so dangerous that even the firefighters and EMTs refuse to enter it without a police escort.

The city has announced that they are going to clean it out (the property is actually owned by the state DOT).

But how?

And once they get it cleaned out, how to keep it that way?

Stay tuned . . .

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Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:52:48

Napalm… Will kill the stench too.

 
 
 
 
Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 10:00:16

Rampant poverty and drug addiction with swarms of sex offenders. San Francisco sounds like a wonderful place.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:53:58

You’ve never been within 1000 miles of SF. Shut up already.

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 16:58:48

Boots on the ground data my friend. Boots on the ground data.

“San Francisco Now Has Highest Per Capita Property Crime Rate In The US”

http://sfist.com/2016/04/25/sf_now_has_highest_per_capita_prope.php

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Comment by rms
2016-05-24 23:47:37

“Sidewalk tents have taken everyone in San Francisco by surprise.”

Are the city’s Negros over-represented in these photos?

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-05-24 06:41:14

Keep in mind that these money managers need to earn two returns on the money they manage, not just one; One return they keep for themselves, the other return (assuming there is one) goes to the owners of the huge pile of money that is managed.

One return, one decent return, is tough to do in this Zirpy environment, and as for two returns?

Here …

“Legendary Investor Paul Tudor Jones Cuts Hedge Fund Fees As A Result Of Poor 2016 Performance”

“One month after news that legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones’ $11.6 billion hedge fund Tudor Investment had seen some $1 billion in redemptions as a result of poor performance and the exit of several money managers, some of whom spent decades at the firm, the inevitable next step has followed: Tudor is trimming the fees it charges some clients in its biggest fund amid losses this year.

“According to Bloomberg which first reported the fee cuts, an inevitable shift in a world in which most hedge funds have underperformed their benchmarks and the broader stock market for eight years in a row, Tudor will modestly reduce fees for a share class that contains most of the main fund’s money to 2.25% of assets and 25% of profits, according to a letter sent to clients on Monday and obtained by Bloomberg. The fees were 2.75% and 27% Tudor is also introducing a new pool for clients with $50 million investments or more that will charge 2 percent of assets and 25 percent of profits. The changes will take effect July 1.”

(Link to follow.)

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-05-24 07:04:01

Chasing prices, most of these hedge funds are chasing prices, chasing the same prices. This should end well (not)…

“These are the most widely held stock by hedge funds”

“Hedge fund portfolio density rose to record levels in March, exceeding even the Financial Crisis highs. Hedge fund returns continue to grow more dependent on the performance of a few key stocks. The typical hedge fund has 68% of its long-equity assets invested in its 10 largest positions. This statistic compares with 32% for the typical largecap mutual fund, 22% for the average small-cap mutual fund, 18% for the S&P 500 and just 3% for the Russell 2000 Index.”

Here the term “performance” means “price increases”. IMO performance should relate to the actual operations of the company but, hey, I’m Old School.

(link to follow)

 
 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 06:56:23

“San Francisco officials plan to take another run at clarifying sanctuary protections for people who are in the country illegally, a policy that landed the city in national hot water last year when a Mexican man shot and killed a woman walking along a waterfront pier.

The Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal Tuesday that spells out when law enforcement can turn over criminal suspects to federal immigration authorities.

The measure calls for law officers to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement only if a defendant is charged with a violent crime and has been convicted of a violent crime within the last seven years. That would be the only time city workers, including police officers, could disclose immigration status.

But San Francisco’s sheriff has resisted the limitation, saying that she wants greater discretion over what is a relatively small pool of detainees. The sheriff, as a constitutionally elected official, does not have to follow the board’s orders.”

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/San-Francisco-to-consider-immigrant-sanctuary-7941382.php

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 07:37:42

So if SF can just ignore these Federal Laws…

Why can’t other cities ignore other Federal Laws?

Oh, I forgot. We are an obama banana republic where laws really don’t matter. The Chicago Way.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:55:22

Sanctuary? What illegal can come up with 3k a month for rent?

Comment by A Comrade of Proven Worth
2016-05-24 18:16:36

The Comrades of Proven Worth at the DNC and their municipal partners in crime can certainly compel the taxpayers to house our dependency voters in a style befitting their lifelong allegiance to the Democrat Party. Forward!

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 07:00:11

Real economy sinking, Ponzi markets still being levitated. The Fed at work.

http://wolfstreet.com/2016/05/24/manufacturing-recession-goes-global-as-demand-withers/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by scdave
2016-05-24 08:03:06

Trump as the nominee of the republican party is a inditement of how dysfunctional the republican party has become that many in the party would embrace a fascist…I would venture a bet on how the national election will turn out but more interesting will be the down ticket…

Elections have consequences and after 8 years of Bush you get Obama and now most likely Hilary and then maybe Julian Castro…

The (so called) republicans made their bed now they can lay in it…Like Ben said yesterday, Jeb had 100-mil and got ran out of town by a narcissits film-flam man…Bush name = Mud…

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 08:45:17

Hmmmm…now which party and candidate does this sound like (or currently in office)?

I will give you a hint. A fascist and a fascist state needs a massive government.

Fascists believe that liberal democracy is obsolete, and they regard the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties. Such a state is led by a strong leader—such as a dictator and a martial government composed of the members of the governing fascist party—to forge national unity and maintain a stable and orderly society. Fascism rejects assertions that violence is automatically negative in nature, and views political violence, war, and imperialism as means that can achieve national rejuvenation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 11:50:36

That definition doesn’t require a very large government. The Spanish government under Franco was probably significantly smaller than it is today.

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Comment by cactus
2016-05-24 10:20:49

Even liberal radio stations like NPR are questioning Hilary.

Hilary is in trouble what a poor choice for the democrats to run.

Comment by redmondjp
2016-05-24 15:05:02

So the question is, will more people hold their noses and vote for Hillary, or will more people hold their noses and vote Trump?

My prediction? Republicans find another candidate at the national convention, Trump revolts and goes third-party, and Hillary wins. All Kabuki theater, brought to you by our global puppeteers.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 22:26:04

Trump is the presumptive nominee, and the Republicans who don’t like him have acquiesced to the Faustian bargain, unlike the Democrats who dislike Clinton and are holding out hope for Sanders to pull off a deus ex machina ending to the nomination battle.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:25:19

Hillary epitomizes the corruption, mendacity, and crony capitalism of the Democrat Party. Who better to be their standard-bearer?

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Comment by Ben Jones
2016-05-24 10:39:24

‘a inditement of how dysfunctional the republican party has become that many in the party would embrace a fascist’

I’d like to say something about this. We should consider our words carefully when speaking of our fellow citizens. You can’t unspeak them. It’s the last resort to say what Godwin referred to. I attended a GOP debate 8 years ago, witnessed Ron Paul invoke the Golden Rule, and he was booed lustfully. Remember the Golden Rule? Weren’t you taught that as a child and understood its basic truth? Ron Paul was also called a lot of names that were meant to put him beyond the pale. Remember? He was a racist. I knew the man. He didn’t have a racist bone in his body.

I’m choosing my words carefully. This is a delicate time in our history. For whatever reasons, one of the two political parties has decided to make some changes. It is important to understand that the two party system belongs to us all. It’s not in the constitution explicitly, but the way we chose a president is tilted toward two parties. President. Did you know there was a big debate on that title? It was purposefully determined to diminish the office. Presiding. Not King, not some exalted word. Presiding. If what you say is true, it’s an indictment of what our system has become. Because every single stitch of our constitution was designed to prevent one person from assuming dictatorial powers. Are you saying our congress wouldn’t protect us? Our courts, our state governments even our sheriffs? The last line of defense, our fellow citizens? I hear the later condemned regularly when the powers that be are threatened.

Did you vow to move to Canada when Bush 2 was reelected? A man who lied us into yet another war. How could it get any more unbearable? But we persevered. When those people booed the Golden Rule, I didn’t hate them. I was sad, but I continued to believe the truth of it, regardless of the mob. When some people in the GOP said “we pick the candidate, not the people”, why didn’t the President immediately denounce it? Wasn’t that a threat to our very liberty he has sworn to protect?

Disagreeing is part of our process. We are all entitled to an opinion, to try and sway our fellow citizens. We should never cut that out of the realm of possibility. The framers of our system knew we’d make mistakes and made provision for it. At the root of the disagreement today is trade, foreign policy, immigration, potent stuff. I’m asking you to consider that a body of your fellow citizens have determined some changes are necessary. The messenger may be lying. That’s OK because our system will not allow our freedom to perish. With that freedom we can move on from any mistake. But without a system that makes change possible, we are lost. I ask you to embrace your fellow citizen as you never have, because we need each other. And sometimes we need to change things. Let us all hope we have the wisdom the times call for.

Comment by scdave
2016-05-24 11:05:35

But we persevered ??

Well maybe we did not breakout into civil war but I hardly call the toxic, polarizing political environment along with the lack of opportunity for millions of people persevering…

As far as Trump, I don’t think he is qualified to run this country…Add to that the toxic message that he delivers…I think the republican party should be embarrassed by it and I believe many are…But instead of outright rejecting then man, in their quest to win at all cost, they are embracing him…A very sad day in american politics IMO…

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Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 11:12:09

DT is overqualified if anything. And his message is refreshing and it needs to be invoked over and over again.

DT gives optimism to millions as this economy continues to crumble.

 
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 11:27:55

A very sad day in american politics IMO…

Because the republican candidate will actually fight, will kick over the 1% status quo and make a mockery of the “corrupt to the bone” Hillary

To democrats, McCain was a good candidate…

 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 12:19:50

“As far as Trump, I don’t think he is qualified to run this country”

Why?

“Add to that the toxic message that he delivers”

What’s the toxic message?

“I ask you to embrace your fellow citizen as you never have, because we need each other. And sometimes we need to change things. Let us all hope we have the wisdom the times call for.”

That is an excerpt from a great post, Ben. This is something I struggle with often, because sometimes my fellow citizen ticks me off, but I try to fight that feeling of wanting to choke the sh+t out of some a-hole who desperately deserves it. Then again, I’m not exactly a day at the beach myself sometimes.

A friend of mine recently went over this exact point with me. To not attack others who support a different candidate than I. And to not attack their preferred candidate, at least in conversation with them, but to ask who they support and why and at least let them have their say without fear of being attacked so they can examine their own reasons. But if it is Hillary, sigh. The word I hear used is “Experience”. What??
How does that even mean anything if the “experience” is bad, incompetent experience?

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-05-24 12:43:35

When most people are getting upset, I have to step back and think. I can’t engage in the vitriol. I have in the past, don’t get me wrong. There is way too much energy going to waste on this election. People are saying things they will regret, burning bridges and I don’t care for it.

I happen to believe globalism hasn’t worked and deserves to be reexamined. And not just adding another gigantic layer to it. I’ve stated here numerous times why I oppose illegal immigration. If it’s OK for Mexico, why can’t we have the same deal? I also oppose policing the world. Police is a nice word for empire, BTW. Empires have never been friendly.

This isn’t new or radical. It’s the way this country operated for many decades. Granted, these are big changes.

I was reading the other day; much of the discontent stems from the financial “crisis”. People aren’t happy with how that went down and what’s happened since. Our wages are down from 2009. Housing is through the roof, by design. This bubble was conjured up originally to mask the decline in our standard of living, and as we’ve discussed here before, that decline can be legitimately laid at the foot of globalism and the corporate forces that control it. These aren’t new accusations.

Everyone agrees inequality is bad and getting worse. Big changes may mean a different path. Who knows, these discontents may be on to something. Peace.

 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 13:32:40

Speaking of bubbles, this derivatives bubble is supposed to be the mother of them all. Yes, Phoenix Capital is talking their book to a degree, but they’re not the only ones warning about it.

“At some point this whole mess will come crashing down just as it did in 2008. The derivatives market remains a $600 TRILLION Ticking Time Bomb.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-24/derivatives-market-about-implode-big-banks-again

I guess that would be the point at which the board would be swept and the reset button pushed. I hope.

Oh, just so my fellow posters are aware, this is palmetto here, temporarily posting under a different moniker, like when I used the handle “jose canusi”.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-05-24 13:39:55

As far as Trump, I don’t think he is qualified to run this country

Let me preface what I’m about to say by stating the following:

1. I am a registered Republican;
2. I’m not a fan of any of the remaining candidates–each for different reasons (dishonest, buffoon and narcissist–you can guess which one gets each label);
3. I recognize that the world is a much different place than it was 200 years ago.

That said, I think one of the worst things that has happened to this country is that it is now effectively run by career politicians. Their most important advisor is the one who advises on re-election, NOT on how to properly govern.

We started as a country run by elected representatives, where those representatives kept close ties to their home (still had other jobs, lived in their communities, etc.). They voted what they thought was right for their communities and then had to explain their actions if they did something unpopular. Successful politicians were able to make their case in a convincing way and keep their jobs. If they didn’t have good justification for their actions in the eyes of the electorate, they were out.

Over time, we have morphed into a country with elected representatives who have weaker ties to their home, and are frequently focused on keeping their jobs, not doing what is right. They poll first, and vote second. And IMHO, that isn’t the job.

Anyone who puts themselves and their political career first, IMHO, is not qualified to be in a position to serve the public.

Qualified to be President? What does that mean?

I’m a well-educated (some would say highly-educated) man, born in the US to US Citizens (who were also born in the US to US Citizens), over the age of 35. Am I qualified?

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 17:16:07

They poll first, and vote second. And IMHO, that isn’t the job.

You’re entitled to your opinion. A lot of people would find it quite refreshing if politicians’ actions reflected the preferences of their constituents.

 
Comment by A Comrade of Proven Worth
2016-05-24 18:22:47

I was reading the other day; much of the discontent stems from the financial “crisis”. People aren’t happy with how that went down and what’s happened since. Our wages are down from 2009. Housing is through the roof, by design. This bubble was conjured up originally to mask the decline in our standard of living, and as we’ve discussed here before, that decline can be legitimately laid at the foot of globalism and the corporate forces that control it.

Well said, Ben. People may not be happy with “how that went down,” but in 2008 and 2012, 95% of them bent over for the neocon, corporate statist, crony capitalist status quo by voting for its Wall Street-annointed water carriers like Obama, McCain, and Romney. So these unhappy sheeple bear direct responsibilty for their own misfortune. As a Ron Paul supporter who has had to live with the sorry consequences of their zombie-like idiocy and poor choices, I’m not about to give them a pass on that.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:31:13

DT gives optimism to millions as this economy continues to crumble.

Maybe instead of placing their faith in a demagog and flim-flam man, those millions should stop bending over for the oligarchs by voting for its Establishment-annointed water carriers like Obama, McCain, Romney, or Hillary.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-05-24 20:01:52

You’re entitled to your opinion. A lot of people would find it quite refreshing if politicians’ actions reflected the preferences of their constituents.

Rarely does a poll provide the proper context for the decisions that need to be made by a politician. Can polls influence the direction a politician goes? Sure, but ultimately judgments may need to be made that may differ from what a 5-question poll of 1,000 people says.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-05-24 22:23:59

A couple of important examples:

1. 2003: Public opinion polls supported the decision to use military force in Iraq…70%+. You can say the public was lied to, or not. That’s precisely the point. Politicians know more than the public could ever know…it is their job to sometimes make decisions that are contrary to public opinion, in large part because the polls can’t possibly reflect a fully educated sample.

2. 1990: In March of 1990, 63% of Americans according to Galup said they were paying too much in taxes. Despite that, GHWB made a politically unpopular decision to make a budget deal that he felt was appropriate in the circumstances. It cost him a second term. In 2014, he was praised for that decision by the Kennedy foundation. Polling reflects people’s very near-term thinking, and much less the bigger picture. You can’t govern day to day based on the whims of a poll of self-interested and ill-informed public–a much bigger picture view is appropriate. That’s called leadership.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 22:28:28

“It’s the last resort to say what Godwin referred to.”

Totally agreed.

For that reason, I consider it significant that this is the first time I have said what Godwin referred to about a U.S. presidential candidate.

And I am not exactly the only observer to make the same observation at the same point in history.

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Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-05-24 16:58:25

If Hillary has one, it has teeth.

 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-05-24 07:23:07

“The number of people shot in Chicago is running 50% above the figure from this time last year as the city braces for the summer, traditionally its most violent period.

So far this year, at least 1,382 people have been shot in Chicago, and at least 244 of them have died of their wounds. Last year at this time, 904 people had been shot, 157 of them fatally.

May already has seen summer-like gun violence. More people have been killed so far this month than in all of May 2015.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

The toll from this past weekend was five dead and 40 wounded. Two weeks earlier, over the Mother’s Day weekend, eight people were killed and 42 were wounded in Chicago, the city’s most violent since the end of September, according to a Tribune analysis.”

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-chicago-shootings-summer-20160523-snap-story.html

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 07:42:14

Unpossible.

Chicago has the toughest guns laws in the nation. It is virtually impossible for a law abiding politically unconnected citizen to own a legal gun there.

Hillary says guns and the lack of gun control cause crime. And I believe her this time…

Comment by aNYCdj
2016-05-24 08:08:40

yes 2 a mandatory 5 years no bail for each carrying an illegal gun on public property….

10 years no bail for having the serial numbers filed off and double for any prior gun arrests……but this would be so racis

put TSA full body scanners at all public housing units that’s where the real terrorists live!

Comment by traderjack
2016-05-24 13:14:51

won’t work, as court will not put people in jail for 5 years for those violations.

What will work is physical punishment in the form of whipping, caneing, or hard labor.

10 strokes with the cat-o-nine tails for minor gun violations, up to 25 for more serious non death violations

But , hey, we don’t want to hurt anyone , do we?

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 13:23:08

Once again, reverence for the constitution is not consistent.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-05-24 17:03:07

well what about full body scanners at public housing projects dont poor people have a right not to live with thugs drug dealers and low life’s?

well who paid for the housing …we all did, shouldn’t we impose some rules?

 
 
 
 
Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-05-24 11:43:44

401 -
Don’t move here you won’t like it.

 
Comment by snake charmer
2016-05-24 14:36:30

These stories are easily politicized and get people’s attention. But there were nearly twice as many homicides annually in Chicago during the early 1990s.

http://tinyurl.com/z89kp9a

 
 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-05-24 07:24:01

“The crackdown on loans substantiated by overseas income has the greatest potential to impact all but the wealthiest of Chinese buyers, says Wang, who owns investment properties in Australia himself. He says many buyers had bought off-the-plan properties but are now scrambling to find alternative loans before settlement, often forced to pay higher downpayments. ‘This is the most disadvantageous part to overseas investors. The impact is quite big and very direct.’”

Confucius say “He who fart in church sit in own pew”.

BTW, aren’t these folks supposed to have really high IQs or something?

Comment by TheFabulousMoolah
2016-05-24 07:39:12

If you build it, they won’t come.

Even Babe Ruth pointed to a wall.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 07:40:12

Why does Bill Cosby face jail but Bill Clinton doesn’t?

————–

Cosby on teen: ‘I gave her Quaaludes, then we had sex’
nypost - 5/24/2016

Bill Cosby admitted to plying teens with booze and drugs before having sex with them, and to having girls regularly dispatched to him by a modeling agency, newly unearthed court papers show.

The comic said that at one point in his career, the agency would provide “five or six” young women each week, according to depositions he gave in 2005 and 2006 for a lawsuit.

Among other revelations made by Cosby under questioning by lawyers for Andrea Constand, who claims he sexually assaulted her in 2004, was the description of a 1976 encounter with a 19-year-old model named Therese Picking.

 
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 07:43:40

Another legacy of obama

For the first time on record…

————-

Goodbye, empty nest: Millennials staying longer with parents
Associated Press | May 24, 2016 10:00 AM EDT | Christopher S. Rugaber

Many of America’s young adults appear to be in no hurry to move out of their old bedrooms.

For the first time on record, living with parents is now the most common arrangement for people ages 18 to 34, an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center has found.

Nearly one-third of millennials live with their parents, slightly more than the proportion who live with a spouse or partner. It’s the first time that living at home has outpaced living with a spouse for this age group since such record-keeping began in 1880.

The remaining young adults are living alone, with other relatives, in college dorms, as roommates or under other circumstances.

The sharp shift reflects a long-running decline in marriage, amplified by the economic upheavals of the Great Recession. The trend has been particularly evident among Americans who lack a college degree.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-05-24 10:10:37

“For the first time on record, living with parents is now the most common arrangement for people ages 18 to 34,”

That’s OK because…

Corporate Profits Have Grown By 171 Percent Under Obama — Highest Rate Since 1900

By Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress
January 17, 2013

 
Comment by snake charmer
2016-05-24 14:59:05

Is there anything you don’t see through that lens? Just curious, because it seems to inform absolutely everything you post. Sound and fury, signifying nothing.

If there are political themes to this blog, they are that our economic distortions largely have bipartisan origins, and that partisanship is used as a distraction to obscure base motives and avoid real reform. Is the Fed conservative? Liberal? Do those words even mean anything anymore?

We have a GOP nominee who on many issues is to the left of the 16 candidates he defeated. And five years after the Occupy movement, we are likely to have a Democratic nominee who was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to give private speeches at Wall Street banks, and who won’t release the transcripts.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-05-24 16:02:36

“Is there anything you don’t see through that lens? Just curious, because it seems to inform absolutely everything you post. Sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

I never would have seen the “Corporate Profits Have Grown By 171 Percent Under Obama” article had it not been posted on this blog last week by someone looking “through that lens” and saying how Obama had done well by them.

Comment by snake charmer
2016-05-24 17:50:54

Whose corporate profits have grown? Someone starting a new business, or politically-connected crony capitalist racket? It seems to me like we have the same winners, all the time, no matter which of the major parties holds the Presidency and/or Congress. And it’s not us.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 07:57:42

For the first time in 130 years, more young Americans live with their parents
By Quentin Fottrell
Published: May 24, 2016 10:11 a.m. ET
Young adults are more likely to live in their childhood home than independently

Young adults in the U.S. appear to like the comforts of home.

For the first time in more than 130 years, American adults aged 18 to 34 were more likely to be living in their parents’ home than living with a spouse or partner in their own household, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.

Comment by Sean
2016-05-24 08:50:31

They should rush out and buy $500,000 starter homes. Write love letters to the sellers about how they are young and love their house. Have an experienced Realtor show them how to get a zero percent down loan. She has an appraiser who will help them also. She’s researched this.

Seriously though, do you think young people really WANT to go back to their childhood home? I guarantee if you asked 90plus percent would want to get a job and leave. Not all have basket weaving degrees. Not all are proud to move back to “the comforts of mommy and daddy”.

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 09:18:48

Considering “young people” overwhelming voted for obama and will vote overwhelming (to a lesser extent) for Hillary.

The answer is Yes.

Seriously though, do you think young people really WANT to go back to their childhood home?

 
Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 10:02:00

“Have an experienced Realtor show them how to get a zero percent down loan. She has an appraiser who will help them also.”

eh heh.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-05-24 08:13:06

Hedge Funds
Hedge-Fund Star Kyle Bass Slips on Oil
Collapse in energy prices hits Bass’s Hayman Capital Management; firm’s main fund is down about 7% this year
By Gregory Zuckerman and Rob Copeland
May 23, 2016 12:49 p.m. ET

Hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass made a killing when the mortgage bubble popped. He wasn’t as lucky with the oil bust.

Reassured in part by a March 2015 meeting with energy investor T. Boone Pickens, who said the glut of crude wasn’t going to overwhelm the country’s ability to store it, Mr. Bass began buying shares of oil producers like Concho Resources Inc. and Whiting Petroleum Corp. It was a big mistake. Energy prices collapsed anew, extending what has become Mr. Bass’s worst streak since he launched Hayman Capital Management LP a decade ago.

So far in 2016, Hayman’s main fund is down about 7%, according to investors, well short of the 1.3% gain for the S&P 500, including dividends—putting the fund on track for its third straight year of losses.

Comment by Combotechie
2016-05-24 08:33:03

“… putting the fund on track for its third straight year of losses.”

Nevertheless the guys who manage the fund still get to extract their fees.

Cash …

Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-05-24 08:36:43

Let’s see, if the fund does well then the managers get paid very, very well.

If the fund does not do well then the managers do not get paid very, very well, they only get paid well.

I like it.

 
Comment by snake charmer
2016-05-24 15:01:46

Don’t the funds charge a percentage of assets under management, plus a percentage of capital gains? Two and twenty? Somebody here once wrote that a hedge fund was a way for someone else to use your money to get rich.

Comment by Rental Watch
2016-05-24 20:05:51

Edit:

2% of assets under management and 20% of profit.

If the profit generated by the fund is ordinary in nature (because it’s from short-term trading), then the 20% carried interest is not capital gains, but ordinary income.

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Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 08:29:59

The cost of higher education:

On one had we have the Hillary “bigger government can solve this” solution (anyone believe that?)

And on the other hand…

(and yes kiddies - that means this student debt will become discharable in bankruptcy)

———-

TRUMP CAMPAIGN PLANS COLLEGE OVERHAUL
Accuracy in Academia | May 23, 2016 | Deborah Lambert

Who knew that the Trump campaign would be getting involved in higher education policy this year? Sam Clovis, a tenured economics professor and Trump campaign co-chair, recently noted that their objectives include getting the government out of student lending, requiring colleges to share in student loan risk, and discouraging borrowing by liberal arts majors.

Clovis told Inside Ed that the mere mention of these policy proposals has sent some Washington graybeards into a swivet, and “he expects some higher education leaders to react the same way when Trump outlines these ideas during the fall campaign.”

Some of the ideas under consideration could be “revolutionary,” Clovis said. Among the proposals currently being prepared are the following:

• A complete shift of the current federal student loan system to a market-based and market-driven system that would be run by private banks

• Remediation programs for those unprepared for college-level work would be renamed “student success programs”

• Colleges would subject applicants to greater scrutiny and only admit those who show promise of graduating and finding jobs within a reasonable time frame

• There would be less emphasis on parent contributions and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and more of “a partnership” between the student, the bank and the college

Saying that all colleges should have skin in the game and share the risk associated with student loans, Clovis noted that many in Congress already voiced support for that idea, adding that “the risk needs to be substantial enough to change the way colleges decide whether to admit students, and which programs they offer.”

Comment by aNYCdj
2016-05-24 09:24:44

goes with my prediction that at least 1/3 of 4 year colleges will close by the end of this decade. and 2 yr colleges will be for job training/ apprenticeship purposes..

Comment by taxpayers
2016-05-24 10:01:39

make liberal arts majors pay cash up front

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 11:02:43

Elon Musk studied Liberal Arts.

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Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 11:29:23

Do they teach how to buy political candidates and get millions in taxpayer subsidies in Liberal Arts now…?

 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 12:00:23

dont hate the winners

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-05-24 13:46:05

“Elon Musk studied Liberal Arts.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25541448/timeline-elon-musk-accomplishments

He graduated high school with distinctions in science and computer studies.

Musk has degrees in physics and economics, and was accepted to complete a PhD in applied physics at Stanford before leaving.

I took a music class. I’m not a musician.

 
Comment by Puggs
2016-05-24 15:33:17

Since smarter people make more money then they need to pay cash up front for that Lib Arts degree.

 
 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 12:03:09

getting the government out of student lending

Mr. Banker wants this. Its more business for him.

discouraging borrowing by liberal arts majors

I remember when I was a kid people would say Soviet citizens couldn’t choose what field they would work in, that the government would tell them what job they could have. I guess Trump wants to force people into the STEM fields.

Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 13:27:06

You missed a key word. BORROWING. Do try to keep up.

I remember when I was a kid people would say Soviet citizens couldn’t choose what field they would work in, that the government would tell them what job they could have. I guess Trump wants to force people into the STEM fields.

Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 14:26:32

The effect would be the same. Don’t be ridiculous.

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Comment by junior_bastiat
2016-05-24 16:22:23

Wow. This will transform the higher education scam and attract a lot of berners as he offers no solution but so far has been the only candidate to identify the problem. Trump continues to crush his opponents - and I’m saying that not as a trumpster, just an observer. His instincts are, for the most part, brilliant from a political stand point.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:28:22

Trump’s “brilliant” political instincts are magnified by the abject stupidity of 95% of the electorate.

 
 
 
Comment by cactus
2016-05-24 08:45:40

This aired on March 9, 2016 and is on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28W5k6MOZ5g

This market forecast video includes presentations by Bruce Norris, Dr. Chris Thornburgh, Dr. John Huesing and Iddo Benzeevi.

The presentation is roughly 3 and 1/2 hours long—so it’s a long presentation to get through.

The Norris presentation didn’t yield too many major surprises. Bruce doesn’t think the market will crash anytime soon. The market has been slightly positive for the last year or two. But he doesn’t see any way that the real estate market will crash either—at least, given the present circumstances. Neither of the other 2 economists (Huesing and Thornburgh) felt that the real estate market was in any serious danger of a housing crash right now. Iddo Benzeevi, a prominent developer of warehouse space in the Inland Empire, spoke about logistics, robotics and the impact of technological innovation on the economy of the Inland Empire.

Given that Bruce bought more than 2 dozen building lots in Florida, that is where he is currently building–and maybe he will show some enthusiasm for that market in the future. (He mentioned that Fannie Mae annual report showed that 25% of their losses were attributable to Florida—and when he heard that, Bruce bought some building lots there because it’s the closest thing to a distressed area right now.)

Most of the predictions I have heard about the Southern California market in 2016 make it slightly positive (CAR says 6.3% appreciation for 2016—other economists similarly appear to predict single digit increases). No one seems to think that the inventory problem will be solved anytime soon—so prices will probably continue to increase.

One observation Bruce made that was interesting and I hadn’t heard elsewhere—that mortgage rates have declined during the last year—and he thinks it might even be possible for mortgage rates to decline to a # starting with 2 (not a 3 or a 4). But he doesn’t guarantee this result. (If this should turn out to be true, there will be a ton of refinancings).

None of the speakers felt that the real estate market was currently in trouble—though none made a specific prediction about when the market will top out.

My impression—previously expressed—is that we are in the “horse latitudes”—not strong appreciation, relatively flat, etc. I think what Bruce Norris says in his current spiel is that alot of investors want to “change seats”—another way of saying that if you bought in the “hood” during 2008—and you don’t really want the management headaches—you cash into property that is easier to manage, or maybe that has a straighter shot at appreciation (I think it was San Jacinto where he chose to move some of his money into).

I really hate the status quo because inventory is minimal and at least if we crashed—we would have an opportunity to buy again, etc. But there are so many factors that aren’t in place—that a traditional crash doesn’t seem to be in the cards anytime soon.

Caveat: If you are in the Bay area, that is one of the few areas where maybe there will be a crash—though can’t exactly expect Bruce to invest in such an overheated market right now—that would be speculative. But at least these high appreciation areas have a shot at a traditional crash. Maybe this means the crash analysis can no longer operate on a statewide basis—but needs to focus on each area. Although Bruce has never exactly said that in public—so I’m not sure what he does with these areas.

 
Comment by cactus
2016-05-24 09:18:53

Taco bell Jeff is back posting on SDCIA , Graphs everthing..

Shoeshine boy moment ??

Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2016-05-24 10:29:36

Heh, funny you mention the shoeshine effect. I just said that Sunday regarding the “boom” in far off Thurston County, WA.

For me it’s 3 recent events that confirm it:

(1) Boom in Hoquiam, Aberdeen (Kurt Cobain’s hometown), Grays Harbor.
(2) Boom in Cleveland “luxury” apartments.
(3) Portland #8 internationally for million dollar+ properties.

“This shouldn’t happen”
-Ben Jones, HBB

 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-05-24 09:49:11

Santa Clara, CA Housing Affordability Improves As Prices Fall 4% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/santa-clara-ca-95051/home-values/

 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 10:08:39

Trump said, “Amazon is getting away with murder tax-wise. He’s using the Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed.”

Trump said that he’d impose a 35% tax on American corporations that don’t manufacture their products in the US.

Says the guy who won’t release his tax returns and has publicly said he works hard to pay as little in taxes as possible.

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 10:41:18

Remember my friend. Nothing accelerates the economy and create jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 11:00:44

Yes, the people in the oil biz agree.

Comment by Jingle Male
2016-05-24 19:21:31

+100 to +25…….

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Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 11:18:06

obama send the IRS to audit his political enemies

Trump is audited

Trump says as long as I am being audited I am not releasing my taxes.

I like Trump. He fights. And reminds us all who the real fascists are…

And I chose my words carefully.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 12:01:39

Will you pay for Trumps:
walls
wars
tariffs
deportations

trillions

Comment by phony scandals
2016-05-24 17:00:01

“Will you pay for Trumps:”

Whoever does will have to pay Obama’s $8.4 Trillion first.

Total U.S. Debt Surpasses $19 Trillion; Rises $8.4 Trillion Under President Obama

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/01/2016 17:47 -0400

Two months ago, when we calculated that the US would need a new “debt ceiling” of $19.6 trillion to last until after Obama’s tenure, we may have been too optimistic: since the increase in the hard debt limit of $18.15 trillion which was raised at the end of October, the US appears to be growing its debt at a far faster pace than we had originally expected, and according to the latest public debt data, as of the last day of January, total US debt just hit 19,012,827,698,417.93.

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Comment by anklepants
2016-05-24 17:47:21

Lola, there’s trillions of Trumps in your empty skull. Morning in America is coming again.

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-05-24 12:04:41

Trump says as long as I am being audited I am not releasing my taxes.

That’s a choice that he makes.

 
 
Comment by Eddie89
2016-05-24 12:49:23

And his clothing line is made in China!
https://youtu.be/SYoOPgeTMQc

 
 
Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-05-24 10:30:55

I was driving to work - yes I still work in this E-con-omy.
Everywhere you look in the utopian paradise called Chicago - there are those electronic signs at contruction zones saying to “Obey speed limit” and the like. Yet one of those electronic signs this morning was malfunctioning and simply said - Obey. I thought - how appropriate.

Enjoy your day boyz and girlz.

Comment by Puggs
2016-05-24 16:36:35

Andre the Giant must have hacked that sign.

 
 
Comment by frankie
2016-05-24 10:58:18

A Russian billionaire whose business partner is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, the former chairman of a defunct Nigerian bank and a Kyrgyz vodka tycoon appear to be among more than 130 foreign buyers in Britain’s tallest residential skyscraper.

Almost two-thirds of homes in the Tower, a 50-storey apartment complex in London, are in foreign ownership, with a quarter held through secretive offshore companies based in tax havens, a Guardian investigation has revealed.
‘Tower for the toffs’: UK’s tallest skyscraper and playground of the rich
Read more

The first residents of the landmark development arrived in October 2013, but many of the homes are barely occupied, with some residents saying they only use them for a fraction of the year.

The revelations about the Tower are likely to be seized on by campaigners and politicians as the starkest example yet of the housing crisis gripping the capital, in which too many new homes are sold abroad as investments and left largely empty while fewer and fewer young people can afford to buy or even rent in the city.

The five-storey £51m penthouse with views across to the Thames to the Palace of Westminster is ultimately owned by the family of former Russian senator Andrei Guriev, a well-placed source has told the Guardian. His family already owns Witanhurst in Highgate, north London, the biggest mansion in London after Buckingham Palace.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/24/revealed-foreign-buyers-own-two-thirds-of-tower-st-george-wharf-london

 
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 11:22:14

Dear Gawd.

Look at that list.

CORRUPT to the bone.

————–

Here’s The Full List Of Organizations That Paid Hillary Clinton From 2013-2015

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-24/heres-full-list-organizations-paid-hillary-clinton-2013-2015

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 11:24:29

I read it there and it’s is nothing short of damning.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-05-24 16:51:47

for one of the least charismatic and unimaginative orators the world has ever known.

maybe she saves the fire and brimstone and real solutions for her paid gigs, the less the public knows the better.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:26:41

When 47% of the electorate are on gub’mint benefits and 95% are stupid and amoral, Hillary is a shoo-in.

 
 
 
Comment by Combotechie
Comment by 2banana
2016-05-24 11:50:58

Dragons put out a lot of C02…

 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-05-24 12:03:01

ignorance is bliss

 
Comment by Puggs
2016-05-24 13:42:21

Game of Thrones is causing a lot of global warming. “If yer not part of the solution yer part of the problem”.

 
 
Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 11:39:15

“Why One Bank Is Urging Its Clients To Dump. Oil. Now”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-23/why-one-bank-urging-its-clients-dump-oil-now

 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-05-24 13:47:19

Encinitas, CA Housing Affordability Surges As Prices Plunge 13% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/encinitas-ca/home-values/

 
Comment by Ben Jones
Comment by redmondjp
2016-05-24 15:32:39

“Okay, pork belly prices have been dropping all morning, which means that everybody is waiting for it to hit rock bottom, so they can buy cheap and go long. . .”

Comment by BoBo Brazil
2016-05-24 15:55:33

Long positions are a long way down. A very long way down.

 
 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-05-24 15:52:06

Ashland, OR Housing Affordability Improves As Prices Crater 8% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/ashland-or/home-values/

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-05-24 17:19:53

Poll: Two-thirds of US would struggle to cover $1,000 crisis

By KEN SWEET and EMILY SWANSON
May. 19, 2016 2:22 PM

In this Wednesday, May 18, 2016, photo, Mitchell Timme works from his laptop computer at his home… Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Two-thirds of Americans would have difficulty coming up with the money to cover a $1,000 emergency, according to an exclusive poll released Thursday, a signal that despite years after the Great Recession, Americans’ finances remain precarious as ever.

These difficulties span all incomes, according to the poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Three-quarters of people in households making less than $50,000 a year and two-thirds of those making between $50,000 and $100,000 would have difficulty coming up with $1,000 to cover an unexpected bill.

Even for the country’s wealthiest 20 percent — households making more than $100,000 a year — 38 percent say they would have at least some difficulty coming up with $1,000.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 18:56:41

The powers-that-be are the individuals and corporations who profit from America’s endless wars abroad and make their fortunes many times over by turning America’s homeland into a war zone. They are the agents and employees of the military-industrial complex, the security-industrial complex, and the surveillance-industrial complex. They are the fat cats on Wall Street who view the American citizenry as economic units to be bought, sold and traded on a moment’s notice. They are the monied elite from the defense and technology sectors, Hollywood, and Corporate America who believe their money makes them better suited to decide the nation’s future. They are the foreign nationals to whom America is trillions of dollars in debt.

One thing is for certain: the powers-that-be are not you and me.

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/what_it_takes_to_be_president_of_the_american_police_state_anti_big_mo

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 19:04:31

More Kabuki theater over the latest (but not the last) “Greek” bailout, 95% of which will go to the banksters who foolishly lent money to Greece’s socialist-kleptocrat governments. Spoiler alert: the ECB and IMF WILL “lend” money to cover the payments due, since to due otherwise would trigger a collapse of the ECB’s financial house of cards.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/24/greek-crisis-talks-return-as-negotiators-face-off-over-debt-reli/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 19:11:49

When our Permanent Democrat Supermajority is unassailable, and the DNC kleptocrats, their Wall Street cohorts, and their Free Sh*t Army entitlement voting bloc all have a license to steal with impunity, this is the future that awaits us. Forward!

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/expert-warns-of-venezuela-style-hyperinflation-this-will-not-end-well-for-the-united-states_05242016

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 19:13:57

How’s that vote for hope ‘n change working out for you, Millennials?

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/05/24/millennials-live-parent-spouse-partner/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 19:24:17

Tony Blair admits he and his fellow neocons “profoundly underestimated” the chaos and unintended consequences unleased by toppling Saddam Hussein. God only knows what fiascos Hillary is going to get us into.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/tony-blair-britain-and-us-profoundly-underestimated-chaos-brought-about-by-toppling-of-saddam-a7047291.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-05-24 19:26:07

Elizabeth “Fauxahontus” Warren, phony “champion of the middle class” and house flipper.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/06/02/elizabeth-warren-flip-that-house/

 
Comment by frankie
2016-05-25 00:13:53

European officials have agreed to unlock €10.3bn in bailout money for Greece as the International Monetary Fund made a significant climbdown in its demand for upfront debt relief for the recession-hit country.

Greece’s international creditors emerged from an 11-hour meeting in Brussels at 2am on Wednesday having agreed on steps to ease the burden of Greece’s €321bn (£245bn) debt mountain, worth 180% of annual economic output.

But the debt relief plan was a far cry from the “upfront” and “unconditional” debt relief the IMF had demanded on Monday, when it warned that Greece would face an ever-growing bill to service its loans. Poul Thomsen, director of the IMF’s European programme, said the IMF had made “a major concession”. “We had argued that [debt relief measures] should be approved up front and [now] we have agreed that they should be made at the end of the programme period.”

The fund had been locked in a stand-off with Germany, which was adamant that debt relief could not be considered before the end of Greece’s current €86bn bailout programme in mid-2018.

Germany’s reluctance to make concessions is also thought to stem from fear of antagonising voters ahead of federal elections, due in October 2017 at the latest.

Negotiations ran more smoothly when eurozone ministers agreed to give Greece access to a €10.3bn (£7.8bn) tranche of bailout funds, split into two payments: €7.5bn in June and €2.8bn in September.

The €10.3bn is the long-delayed second instalment of Greece’s third bailout agreed last August, worth €86bn.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/24/eurozone-officials-hope-to-give-greece-next-tranche-of-bailout

Under the bus you go again. The poor Greeks must have a detailed knowledge of the underside of buses.

 
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