July 13, 2016

A Bubble In The Making

The North Bay Business Journal reports from California. “After a few years of hot sales activity, the market for multifamily properties in the North Bay appears to be slowing, not so much from lack of interest among investors but for lack of buying opportunities and pricing uncertainties, according to local experts. In Marin County, there are a number of properties with more than five units awaiting buyers, an unusual amount for the market, according to Katherine Higgins, an apartments specialists with Paragon Real Estate Group in Greenbrae. ‘I’m not sure if it’s the price point or that the prices do not make sense,’ she said. ‘Last year, almost everything that came on market was snapped up in weeks.’”

“Buyers of institutional-level properties, typically with more than 200 units, seem to be getting less aggressive in chasing prices and more cautious about overpaying, said Scott Gerber, another longtime apartment broker, now with Bradley Commercial. ‘It’s no secret rents in San Francisco — one of the major drivers for the North Bay as activity radiates this way — were down in the fourth quarter and moderating at best because of the huge supply built there in last five years,’ Gerber said.”

“There has been such a hunger for properties and competition between buyers that a number of deals have gone into contract before inspection reports were completed and at sale prices that the properties’ rents didn’t seem to justify, Higgins said. ‘It’s been an absolute feeding frenzy for the past two years,’ Higgins said. ‘It’s a bubble in the making. Then the buyers get in and realize they have put in more money to get the property to where they want it to be.’”

The Orlando Sentinel in Florida. “Even with a slight uptick in residential construction, at least a few builders have turned to incentives to lure buyers. Even as MetroStudy reported a 3 percent increase in housing starts for Central Florida in the first quarter from a year earlier, Minto Communities offered $35,000 in incentives of some of vacation homes at the Festival development south of Celebration, according to a release. In Winter Garden, salesmen for Meritage Homes wave signs offering free pools at a nearby development and the builder markets ‘free’ pools at Nova Grove near St. Cloud.”

From Crain’s Chicago Business in Illinois. “Homes in Lake Forest aren’t selling. The average time a home in the quintessential North Shore suburb spends on the market is one of the highest in its peer group: for homes that sold in May, it was 186 days. ‘It’s been slow up here,’ says Marina Carney, a Griffith, Grant & Lackie agent. ‘We’re all feeling it,’ says Sue Beanblossom, a Berkshire Hathaway Home-Services Koenig-Rubloff Realty Group agent in Lake Forest. ‘It takes a long time to get something sold in Lake Forest today.’”

“At the end of May, Lake Forest had enough homes on the market to supply 14.5 months’ sales, according to Midwest Real Estate Data. The problem lies in Lake Forest’s aged housing stock, high asking prices, unmotivated sellers and a long commute to downtown, real estate agents say. But the market may be telling those sellers to stop waiting. A mansion on Mayflower Road came on the market recently with an asking price of $4.9 million, or less than three-quarters of the nearly $6.6 million the sellers paid for it 15 years ago.”

“The owners of a 10-year-old house on Kennicott Drive listed a four-bedroom in January at just under $1.8 million, or about 85 percent of their 2007 purchase price. They closed the sale in early June at about $1.47 million. ‘That was disappointing for my sellers and for me,’ says Beanblossom, who handled the sale. ‘But they wanted to get it over with.’”

The Aspen Daily News in Colorado. “In his Aspen Snowmass Market Report real estate analysis for the first half of 2016, Sotheby’s broker associate Andrew Ernemann referred to Snowmass Village as the upper valley market’s ‘unexpected bright spot.’ However, he said Aspen’s slowdown could potentially impact its neighbor this year. It’s the tippy-top of Pitkin County’s real estate market that has taken a huge hit this year. In 2015 there were 30 residential properties sold for $10 million or more. This year that segment is off by more than 60 percent, according to Tim Estin, who published his most recent market analysis on July 8. And he said the trend is by no means unique to this market.”

“‘The luxury sales declines correspond with what one hears about other high end real estate markets around the country,’ Estin wrote. ‘Sales are either off considerably or have stopped — foreign buyers have dried up, uncertainty prevails and there is an abundance of high priced inventory.’ Ernemann concurred that, ‘Many of the world’s luxury real estate markets have experienced a drop in sales activity and/or prices in 2016.’”

The New York Times. “New York City’s ultraluxury real estate frenzy — with its sky-piercing condominium towers and $100 million price tags — has finally come to an end. Even with every conceivable amenity, the eight- and nine-digit prices attached to trophy homes with helicopter views and high-end finishes never bore much relation to actual value. Rather, a class of superrich investors primarily drove the market, choosing high-priced real estate as their asset of choice, because it was less volatile than other investments and they could use shell companies to hide their identities.”

“But today a four-year construction boom aimed at buyers willing to spend $10 million or more has flooded the top of the market just as global market turmoil has caused wealthy investors to pull back and the federal government has moved to scrutinize some all-cash transactions. In and around West 57th Street, known as Billionaires’ Row, ‘it’s not just slow — it’s come to a complete halt,’ said Dolly Lenz, a broker to the superrich. She attributed the lack of activity along the Midtown corridor to oversupply, little differentiation among glassy ultraluxury units and peak pricing. ‘That’s a death knell,’ she said.”

“New York is not alone. After the global financial crisis hit in 2008, investors turned to high-end real estate around the world as a safe place to park their millions. But since the middle of 2014, prime property values have dropped in Paris, Singapore, London, Moscow and Dubai, said Yolande Barnes, director of world research at Savills, a global real estate firm. In the Miami area, 216 homes and condos priced at $10 million were on the market at the end of June, a 43 percent jump from a year ago, according to data compiled by Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors. ‘By anyone’s measurement, that’s more than you’d like to have,’ said Ron Shuffield, president of that firm, pointing out that only 26 houses and condos in that price range sold in the 12 months through June.”

“‘The global misperception was that the demand would be endless,’ said Jonathan J. Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a real estate appraisal firm. ‘The reality was the market was not as deep as what was thought.’”




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260 Comments »

Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-07-13 02:17:47

“‘The global misperception was that the demand would be endless …’”

OMG! Endless! The demand would be endless!

The global stupidity BURNS! It burns with intensity, third-degree intensity.

Can this degree of stupid ever be fixed?

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 05:49:48

Mr Miller put his finger right on it. Remember the safe deposit box in the sky? Except the condo hasn’t really a safe deposit box; it was a fortune that would only go up. How can you build too many of those? Let’s recount the stories behind it; rich foreigners (especially Chinese) looking to “park” money. Limited land, a new asset class, we’ve heard it all before. Now they’ll tell you there’s a shortage on Omaha Nebraska.

I wonder sometimes if people here are numb to it. This shock at how could trees not grow to the sky. Yesterday I was reading an article on the county that Nashville TN is in. The writer said, sales actually declined and put the decline in italics. Not prices went down, the idea that even sales would decline kinda shook this person. Look at how everybody is acting about rents. Rents are DOWN? You’re kidding me. How could this be? Check out this headline:

‘Rents Falling in SF, But Sky Remains Overhead’

You’d think a biblical thing had just happened. Even then, they are hushed; maybe this isn’t really happening:

‘Maybe, maybe not. It’s hard to say. Stories like this one could just be an outlier, but if demand is so high then why would a developer abandon an already approved project? Regardless, as Curbed pointed out, two approved projects put up for sale does not make a trend. One month of rent price declines probably doesn’t either, but it’s still significant for San Francisco.’

It is happening; these developers got shlonged. And buckle up because it’s just getting started.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-07-13 07:22:26

A couple years ago I set up an email search for SF apartments with trulia, and forgot about it, as it never sent me anything. About a month ago, it started sending me one, then two or three, then yesterday I got 8. Rent was still stupid, but the supply is growing…

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:20:06

I remember coming to SF in 2012 for a project, I was naïve, I didn’t know the cost of living there. I was put up in a furnished corporate apt in the south “beach” area / ATT park, really nice. I didn’t realize people were paying my rent rate in slum areas of SF (Tenderloin). It only got worse the next time I was there in 2013. In 2013 I recall massive expansion south of ATT park of more and more 5-6 story luxury apartment/condo bldgs., all down the “Mission Beach” area along 3rd St. I guess all that new supply and tech value stalls has led to those emails for apartments and sweetners for potential tenants.

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Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 09:46:14

Here is a little anecdote:

I went to see an orthopedic MD yesterday about one of my knees, which has been giving me grief. Anywho, he gave me a cortisone shot and it worked like magic. But on to the anecdote:

He moved to my little burg a couple of years ago from the Bay Area.

The dude is an MD, a specialist. He has to make good coin, WAY more than I do, like 3-4x. And he said the prices in the bay area are freaking insane and that he couldn’t afford to live there. He bought a golf course side mansion out here for the the price of a bay area condo and his family loves it here. And as we all know, Northern Colorado isn’t a bargain anymore; but compared to bay area prices it’s still very cheap.

Anyway, I have a follow up with him in two months. I’ll ask him why he chose Colorado over Nevada or Arizona. It might simply be that the local practice really wanted him and made him a great offer. Or maybe he likes shoveling snow ;-)

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 09:56:09

Or he didn’t want to deal with 100-110 * F days on the golf course? I flew through Phoenix once, at 11 pm, I could feel the 100* heat through the glass walkways in the airport. Eck

 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-07-13 10:35:55

‘Or he didn’t want to deal with 100-110 * F days on the golf course? I flew through Phoenix once, at 11 pm, I could feel the 100* heat through the glass walkways in the airport. Eck’

I was out there last month. Stuck for a 7 hour layover in the middle of the night. I walked through the airport trying to escape the late night cleaner noise while looking for a palce to get some shut eye. As soon as you walk through the glass tunnels, you feel the heat rise instantly. This was June 20th when temperatures were 110+ that week.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 10:49:05

You should also confirm that house prices were the main cause of his migration, not the high taxes in California.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 11:27:31

He was very clear that it was about house prices. I suppose he would have paid 10% to Uncle Cal vs. 5% to Uncle Colorado. He could have gone to Wyoming, which has nt state income tax at all. Cheyenne is a ~2 hour drive to Denver, but it’s a real redneck town, even though it’s the state Capitol. Perhaps it would have been a little too much for his Jewish upbringing.

 
Comment by tresho
2016-07-13 15:25:23

I knew an MD in Stamford CT in 1979 that was frustrated at the high RE prices there, at that time. He moved to what he called “Mayberry NC” and established a new medical practice there. He wrote back to say that he bought a house there, for cash, with just a portion of the money he had been saving for a down payment in the Stamford area, an amount of money that was never enough for a down payment in CT.

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 08:17:51

“We anticipate that the rent growth might begin to slow in cities like San Francisco — cities that have experienced rapid recent growth — because of the huge boom in multifamily construction,” Radbil says. “The development and construction of new rentals will ultimately bring more units to market for local renters and limit the demand for individual units, while minimizing leverage that landlords currently hold.”

‘ABODO also found that rents in Oakland dropped as well, and even more significantly at 11 percent.’

It was just months ago I read potential landlords were making crazy over asking bids for Oakland shacks.

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 02:18:36

‘A handful of apartments at One57, the first of the Billionaires’ Row towers, are now on the market for less than the original seller paid for them several years ago, the Times reports. That’s after the building decided to rent out some of the condos it couldn’t sell. At 432 Park, the thin white needle of a tower visible from just about anywhere in the city, full-floor apartments have been split in two, chopping the square footage in half and their $80 million price tags to $40 million.’

‘Developers at 10 Sullivan Street in SoHo made a similar decision earlier this year, dividing up its $45 million triplex into two units, now priced at $11.5 million and $28.5 million. Further downtown, at the Woolworth Building, designers have pared back on lavish finishes to attract a larger pool of buyers. Marketing plans for a new building on 57th Street have been put on hold until next year.’

‘While the rarified top of the market cools, the demand for apartments under the $3 million range (which, coincidentally or not, happens to be the level at which the government starts scrutinizing all-cash purchases) remains competitive. But global market conditions and nosey federal watchdogs will continue to loom over the highest end of the market, leaving many of these trophy buildings as ghost towns.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 10:12:17

‘now on the market for less than the original seller paid for them several years ago’

Which means the condo developer is competing with the investors to sell the remaining units.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 02:19:42

‘Sacramento Area Homes in High Demand’

‘The latest sales numbers for homes in the Sacramento show robust sales and a 50 percent increase in the number of homes coming on to the market. Most of the inventory being sold and coming on line are in the higher end of the market in the $375,000 to $750,000 range, for the most part in Placer and El Dorado counties.’

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 06:04:24

The Slasher is on his way to Sacramento.

 
Comment by Jingle Male
2016-07-13 06:31:55

More on Sacramento:

“If you look at below $358,000 we only have about one month of inventory so buyers are having a really difficult time at that price point,” said Pat Shea, president of Lyon Real Estate.

That’s old news for Jose Mendoza who has been shopping for a first home for six weeks.

“All the houses are going quick. I’ve put in at least four offers, and I’ve always been turned down because someone else comes in higher than me, so it’s hard,” said Mendoza.

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 06:35:40

Remember….. Todays sale at a grossly inflated price is tomorrows default.

Comment by azdude
2016-07-13 06:54:24

In the mean time they are running adds on tv promoting principal reductions for homeowners duped last time around. This sh@t is a joke.

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Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 07:48:13

Cheer up and remember az_donk……. Nothing accelerates the economy and create jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.

 
Comment by Young Deezy
2016-07-13 07:51:38

Yeah, Keep Your Home California is spamming ads in primetime here. While I’m glad I didn’t get sucked into the mania, I’m pissed the state is engaging in this sort of behavior.

 
 
 
Comment by oxide
2016-07-13 09:58:40

If you look at below $358,000 we only have about one month of inventory

Fully amortized PITI at work. (yeah yeah, I know)

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 10:43:46

Fully amortized@3% down=sub prime

(yeah yeah, I know Donk)

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 07:02:31

They must have founded a new Govt agency or state regulation dept to justify job growth in Sacramento. It definitely isn’t management positions at the new neighborhood bar or NBA team.

 
Comment by Sacks of Dong
2016-07-13 16:07:30

Sacramento is a global hub of culture and the arts. A masterpiece of urban planning. Prices there have nowhere to go but up.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 02:26:13

‘California’s housing market is in pretty good shape, if mortgage lending by nonbanks in 2015, measured by volume and principal amount, is any yardstick, state officials reported Monday.’

“It’s only one indicator, but this data points to the continued good health of California’s housing market,” Jan Lynn Owen, commissioner of the Department of Business Oversight, said in a press release. “The numbers are cause for encouragement, but not giddiness. DBO will remain on guard against the bad underwriting and unfair business practices that crashed our economy and inflicted financial hardship on millions of Californians.”

‘According data compiled by the department, licensed lenders originated 537,757 mortgages in 2015, up 47.3 percent from 2014’s total of 365,045. Total mortgages originated in 2015 grew 56.7 percent from 2014, to $179.3 billion from $114.4 billion. The 2015 principal amount represented a 364.5 percent increase from 2008’s low point of $38.6 billion, according to the report.’

‘A report released by the DBO June 30 showed mortgage lending by nonbanks licensed under a different law also increased significantly in 2015 from the prior year. Lenders licensed under the California Finance Lenders Law reported a 61.7 percent jump in the number of residential mortgage loans they made (to 78,073), and a 55.3 percent rise in the total principal (to $24.6 billion).’

‘Combined in 2015, nonbank mortgage lenders licensed under both laws reported a 49 percent increase in the number of loans (to 615,830), and a 56.6 percent increase in total principal (to $203.9 billion).’

‘Prominent lenders and servicers licensed under the Residential Mortgage Lending Act include: Quicken Loans, Prospect Mortgage, Caliber Home Loans Inc., Finance of America Mortgage, Guaranteed Rate Inc., loanDepot, Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Loan Servicing, PennyMac Loan Services, Stearns Lending Inc. and Suntrust Mortgage Inc.’

The above are the subprime lenders of the day. Pennymac are the Countrywide Financial guys.

‘The numbers are cause for encouragement, but not giddiness’

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 07:08:38

A couple of freinds of our family happen to have their homes on the market this year in our area. Neither has sold yet after weeks on the market.

One has made a price cut from $800K down to $739K with nary an offer. Sadly, these folks made lots of expensive home improvements to get their place ready to sell. My wife may have suggested not to make this unrecoverable investment, but their used home seller convinced them that it would be necessary in order to sell their place. I could have offered at least three reasons not to blow money on home improvements just before selling, but I have noticed most people are confidently as dumb as a board on such matters, so why bother…

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 09:05:56

Just in case any readers here are interested to know why the used home seller offered our friends bad advice, here are a few:

1) It is impossible to guess the tastes of a prospective buyer. Whatever kind of updates one chooses to make may conflict with the tastes of whomever would otherwise have made the highest offer, reducing the value of the sale you could have otherwise made.

2) Unless you hire illegal immigrant labor, then a considerable amount of the money paid for improvements will go towards taxes. Say, for example, that you pay $50K for improvements, of which $10K goes to taxes, and $40K goes into improving the value of the property. Then (at best), you may sell for $40K more than you would otherwise have sold for, but you paid $50K for the pleasure of doing so. I.e. you just lost $10K that you will not be able to recover in the eventual sale price!

3) You have better things to do with your time and energy than to order and pay for a bunch of home improvements which you will never be able to enjoy, since you are about to move out of your house (d’oh!).

4) Consider discounting the value of the property from comps by whatever amount you otherwise would have wasted on improvements just before selling. You are likely to get a quicker sale, as you won’t have to hold out for top dollar to recover the money spent on improvements, and you will not risk offending the tastes of the future owner with the bad choices of improvements you made.

Comment by oxide
2016-07-13 12:02:20

“you may sell for $40K more than you would otherwise have sold for, but you paid $50K for the pleasure of doing so”

But…but… all my HGTV flipper shows tell me that if pay $50K for improvements, I can sell for $100K+ more, not $40K more.

But that only works if the house is nearly uninhabitable to begin with, and is in a neighborhood to support the final comp. Such is the premise of Flip or Flop.

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Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 12:34:50

Generally these “improvements” are a total loss.

 
 
 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-07-13 08:16:22

I see Realhores post about Orange County RE. They get lots of “likes” from the sad pandas who already are loan owners and want RE prices here to keep going up forever. They have saved very little for retirement. Their stucco boxes,are their retirement account.

Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 14:14:34

More like “retirement coffin”.

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 02:29:33

‘River Islands at Lathrop is gearing up to enter the red-hot South County apartment market. Cambay Group plans to build 600 apartments in the town square area of the 11,000 home planned community. Project manager Susan Dell’Osso said the apartments will be aimed at the middle and luxury markets.’

‘A check of apartment rents in Manteca shows rents have gone up nearly 10 percent since January. Manteca’s costliest one bedroom apartments — 737-square-foot units at Paseo Villas billed as a luxury complex on Atherton Drive — are now commanding between $1,490 and $1,590 a month depending upon the unit’s location. Laurel Glenn — a complex on Button Avenue in East Manteca that has been upgrading its interiors with more amenities — is now fetching $1,345 a month for a 597-square-foot one bedroom apartment.’

‘The two bedrooms, one bathroom Laurel Glenn apartments that rented for $780 in 2007 are now going for $1,465 to $1,535 depending upon the location if you can get one. There is a waiting list.’

‘A 660-square-foot one bedroom unit at Stonegate Apartments on West Center Street is now renting for $1,050 to $1,075 a month. Dell’Osso said River Islands planners will be looking at the best locations for the apartments that will intermixed with retail in the town square off of the main entrance via River Islands Parkway — the extension of Louise Avenue crossing the San Joaquin River using the new bridge. The town square will open to a greenbelt park along the San Joaquin River.’

‘River Islands is laid out to make it possible to walk, bicycle or even take paddle boats on interior lakes to reach the town square. Travel corridors — except for main streets such as River Islands Parkway — are designed more with pedestrians in mind and are significantly narrower than you would find on “feeder streets” in a typical community. They also do not have on-street parking in most cases.’

‘The heart of the town square is envisioned for community gatherings much like Library Park in Manteca or Weber Point in Stockton.’

Ahem…

‘now going for $1,465 to $1,535 depending upon the location if you can get one’

Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 07:28:16

“$1,345 a month for a 597-square-foot one bedroom apartment” in Manteca?! You’ve got to be kidding me!

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-07-13 07:39:12

Is that the same Manteca that lard comes from?

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-07-13 07:39:32

well if all utilities, central air , a W/D dishwasher, and a assigned parking space are included in that price , then it seems ok. 90’s to 100’s everyday adds up

Comment by Young Deezy
2016-07-13 07:54:03

Yeah but Manteca is a Podunk ag town mostly populated by the sons and daughters of Aztlan. Maybe they’re marketing it to people who commute to the bay area? Even so, Manteca’s a dump.

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Comment by Karen
2016-07-13 08:16:29

It’s 95-105 degrees here in North Texas every day. I have central air running, I have a washer and dryer and dishwasher and even my stove is electric, and my apartment is quite a bit larger than 597 square feet. My utility bill is under $80 per month.

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:23:14

I’ve noticed utilities are more expensive in those liberal, bureaucratic, dystopian states. My town here in Mass simply takes power from National Grid, adds surcharges and fuel, and charges $0.096/kwHr. Ridiculous rates.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-07-13 08:25:41

in nyc that would be 200+ and i think ive experienced only 3 days of it being over 100 in 15 years….

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 10:55:36

I’ve noticed utilities are more expensive in those liberal, bureaucratic, dystopian states.

That sounds like an unreasonable generalization. Washington and Oregon probably have low electric rates due to the hydroelectric power. Massachusetts is probably also one of the least dystopian states with high levels of education and income and one of the lowest divorce rates, just to choose a few statistics.

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 11:08:29

Irrelevant.

 
Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 11:21:10

Really? I am always running into soccer moms on their 2nd or 3rd marriage here in the North Shore of Mass, with each marriage their rock gets larger.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 11:30:50

You can check it out here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce_in_the_United_States#Divorce_rate_by_state . For 2012 Massachusetts was third lowest. Among the states in the top 10 are southern states such as Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. At this point in our history divorce is much more common among less educated people.

 
Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 14:25:30

PNW power is lower but the looming property taxes will take care of that.

 
 
 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:03:25

The inflated rental rate explains why they’re all empty.

Why build more with all this excess, empty housing inventory?

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:48:38

But when will push come to shove and these investors/property managers cave and lower prices in many states?

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Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:55:54

They’re already slashing. And nothing accelerates the economy and creates jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Sacks of Dong
2016-07-13 16:14:24

‘The two bedrooms, one bathroom Laurel Glenn apartments that rented for $780 in 2007 are now going for $1,465 to $1,535”
Nothing surprising about this. It is EAST Manteca after all.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 02:34:44

‘Even with every conceivable amenity, the eight- and nine-digit prices attached to trophy homes with helicopter views and high-end finishes never bore much relation to actual value. Rather, a class of superrich investors primarily drove the market, choosing high-priced real estate as their asset of choice, because it was less volatile than other investments and they could use shell companies to hide their identities’

Can one even imagine how much money has been squandered?

‘‘it’s not just slow — it’s come to a complete halt,’ said Dolly Lenz, a broker to the superrich. She attributed the lack of activity along the Midtown corridor to oversupply, little differentiation among glassy ultraluxury units and peak pricing. ‘That’s a death knell,’ she said.’

’since the middle of 2014, prime property values have dropped in Paris, Singapore, London, Moscow and Dubai’

And Miami. And Vancouver! Don’t forget Sydney and Brazil. Lagos, the most expensive in the world. Hong Kong, dang this list is getting long.

And it keeps getting worser:

‘In the Miami area, 216 homes and condos priced at $10 million were on the market at the end of June, a 43 percent jump from a year ago, according to data compiled by Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors. ‘By anyone’s measurement, that’s more than you’d like to have,’ said Ron Shuffield, president of that firm, pointing out that only 26 houses and condos in that price range sold in the 12 months through June’

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 06:38:13

‘Finally heeding the prayers of the rent-poor commoners, the real estate gods have wrought famine and pestilence upon “Billionaire’s Row”, the super-luxe, typically overcompensatingly tall real estate offerings built for billionaires. Today the NY Times has an obituary on the properties, with price tags in the eight- and nine-figures. Real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller explains, “It’s not that there aren’t any buyers at this level. It’s that there aren’t buyers willing to pay 2014 prices.”

‘With the economy booming, real estate had been a haven for cash-flush buyers to invest in. So developers created more and more outrageously extravagant properties (some made possible by NYC taxpayers).’

‘One broker at Compass told the Washington Post, “We’re now seeing thousands of very expensive new condominiums sit empty. That hasn’t happened in years.”

“Broker to the superrich” Dolly Lenz “attributed the lack of activity along the Midtown corridor to oversupply, little differentiation among glassy ultraluxury units and peak pricing.” Lenz calls the current situation “a death knell.” But instead of bells, it’s being performed by tiny violins!’

Example

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 06:45:14

“We’re now seeing thousands of very expensive new condominiums sit empty.”

Get slashin’.

What happens to other inventory when pricier inventory gets slashed?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 07:09:55

Avalanche!

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Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 07:30:34

I hadn’t noticed that the economy was “booming.”

Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 09:52:01

Indeed, everything just seems to keep getting worse, especially in oil patch country.

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Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 10:18:06

The DOW is.

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Comment by Mugsy
2016-07-13 03:53:30

“There has been such a hunger for properties and competition between buyers that a number of deals have gone into contract before inspection reports were completed and at sale prices that the properties’ rents didn’t seem to justify, Higgins said.”

I remember reading a quote about 7 years of feast, 7 years of famine in some old book. I guess the realtors don’t read that book much.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 06:42:10

How are Mrs. Mugsy and the kids doing?

Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 07:30:54

Do you mean Muggy? Mugsy and Muggy are two different posters.

Haven’t seen Muggy on the blog in a while. Either I’ve just missed it when he posted, or he’s been busy with his house.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 07:36:15

“Do you mean Muggy?”

Yes I did.

Thanks

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 15:18:52

He’s too busy visiting Home Depot and handling home repairs and maintenance to find time to post here.

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Comment by Mugsy
2016-07-13 03:55:50

“At the end of May, Lake Forest had enough homes on the market to supply 14.5 months’ sales, according to Midwest Real Estate Data. The problem lies in Lake Forest’s aged housing stock, high asking prices, unmotivated sellers and a long commute to downtown, real estate agents say.”

Methinks it has something to do with the tax bills that Rahm just mailed out.

Comment by Jingle Male
2016-07-13 04:33:46

“…they wanted to get it over with…”

Smart sellers, but rare. Your first loss is your best loss. It has been shown time and time again hanging on in a declining market just leads to a greater losses!

Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 15:13:08

Remember, any good real estate deal is made at the “buy”.

 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-07-13 05:24:05

and most if not all of that tax increase went to pay for city employees pensions…oops

 
Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 10:56:56

Congratulations on arranging your escape!

 
Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 11:16:49

Don’t forget the homicides in Chicago, if you survive, then you get to pay your taxes.

 
 
Comment by Middle Coaster
2016-07-13 14:20:28

Lake Forest isn’t even in Cook County, the county that includes Chicago. It’s a 45-minute train ride north. But it IS home to the Onwentsia Club, right Goon?

Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 15:03:24

Rahm is so desperate for money that he mailed property tax bills up there, hoping that some will pay.

 
 
 
Comment by Sean
2016-07-13 04:43:27

Free pools? These buyers are out of money and they want to give them a free pool? Do these buyers know how much it costs to maintain a pool? Plus with the increased cost in home owners insurance? No thanks.

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 07:14:58

I can only imagine the nightmare of “opening” the pool for the season. I remember one summer, I felt like my friend was constantly having to shock the pool, check chlorine, clean filters, etc etc. Another friend of mine had to replace his liner after the previous owner slashed (angry foreclosure), and he forked over $3500 for anew one.

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2016-07-13 08:38:13

I would love a house with a pool (prior owner taking full loss on the price though!)

I’d probably just use automation hardware/software to do the chemical work (AMX bits from eBay).

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 09:23:20

I’d just do a saltwater pool.

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Comment by oxide
2016-07-13 12:54:55

“Do these buyers know how much it costs to maintain a pool?”

From what I was able to look up, a turnkey pool service costs about $80-$150/month. For an upper-class retiree in Florida who swims every day, it’s probably not that big of a burden.

Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 14:18:39

Just wait till it’s time to re-line resurface that bad boy every 10 years. 5 - 10K job.

Have fun.

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Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 04:50:01

Fundamental Transformation:

“The mother of the five-year-old girl who endured a vicious sex assault at the hands of Iraqi and Sudanese refugees in June said she feels her family is being treated like “criminals” by local authorities and the media.

She’s incapable of consenting, she may very well have been threatened with force or violence. I think even with what little we know there’s a case here to be made for felony rape. But, part of what’s going on, in my opinion, is the state is trying to keep this thing well under the radar so they can make a decision about how to handle this without having to face the public, and be able to dispose of it as fast as they can without it reflecting badly on them. Nobody wants the scandal of protest over someone being injured by a Muslim immigrant.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/07/12/mother-idaho-girl-raped-refugees-authorities-withholding-police-report-family/

Forward.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:14:41

“To make an omlette, you have to beak some eggs.” — The Comrades of Proven Worth at the DNC

Iraqi and Sudanese refugees make ideal Democrat-on-Arrival entitlement voters. Of course the state is trying to keep the sex abuse “under the radar.” Nothing must be allowed to interfere with the gusher of new Democrat FSA voters into every state and community in the land. It’s for the greater good…and the children. Forward!

 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-07-13 04:51:16

things are looking up for america….political correctness will be dead soon…

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/trump-calls-for-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-to-resign-her-mind-is-shot/

Comment by TheFabulousMoolah
2016-07-13 05:50:12

Hahaha, it’s on and he’s right. And she’s stupid. Injecting herself into this makes it real clear who Hillary would appoint and who Trump would. Poor strategy from a doddering old out of touch elitist.

And then there’s Bernie’s sell out. Ahhahahahahahhahahahaahha. Controlled opposition. Did anyone really believe he was actually running?

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 07:16:51

Yep unbiased highest court of the land alright. Political commentary should be immediate grounds for dismissal. How can you be expected to objectively rule on law interpretations?

 
 
Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 06:50:24

I was going to comment that, what with GWB’s bogus war in Iraq and the failure to bring him to justice, Hillary Clinton’s bogus regime change and national security scandals sanctioned by Comey at the FBI and Lynch at DOJ, civil asset forfeiture by the police, among other things, the failure of Judge Curiel to recuse himself from the Trump case and now with Ginsburg’s public comments, the law enforcment/legal/justice system and its institutions have been breaking down ever since the Patriot Act.

But then I thought, who am I kidding? It’s already broken down. Ginsburg demonstrated that they’re actually in the process of striking the set. Cut! That’s a wrap!

Comment by aNYCdj
2016-07-13 07:47:02

i think we need a national sales tax of say 5% then everyone pays something drug dealers prostitutes bookies etc……they all have to spend the ill gotten gains..

i would eliminate the corporate income tax make it the best place to do business, no more reverse mergers to get a lower rate in ireland.

but that means no federal tax rebates credits etc, since you wont be paying any in the first place. i dont care if GE pays no tax, its all the concessions and rebates that are the problem…level the field for everyone.

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:39:37

I feel like even if the corporate tax rate was 10%, the corporations would still find a way to cop out of paying that, and still ship jobs overseas. We play into that as consumers be requiring the cheapest possible deals on goods and NIMBYism with the factories and byproducts. And you should have a problem with GE paying next to nothing, they have TRILLIONs of $$$ in money hiding offshore and in assets. That’s just one mega corporation, what do you think Monsanto, Pfizer, Dupont are hiding?

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Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:47:36

“We play into that as consumers be requiring the cheapest possible deals”

Another end result of massively inflated prices.

 
Comment by oxide
2016-07-13 13:04:31

What would companies would do if the tax laws were changed to allow double (or 1.5?) deduction of American salaries/benefits? e.g., pay someone $100K in wages and bennies, take $200K off the revenue.

That would close any potential loopholes about how to create or maintain a certain amount of jobs in order to get a tax break. Hire someone at 40 hours or two people at 20 hours, doesn’t matter. Want more tax break? Hire someone to water the plants at $100K per year to get another $200K tax break, doesn’t matter.

Might be an interesting research project for a accounting/tax law student.

 
 
 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-09-04 20:23:00

Another case of the Dumph pot calling the Klingon kettle black.

Excerpts from the article: Donald Trump has made a big deal out of the Clinton Foundation receiving money from Saudi Arabia, but there’s one major problem with that complaint. A recent investigation by the New York Daily News reveals that Trump’s businesses have received money from Saudi Arabia as well.

Normally, these deals would not be a major issue. Saudi Arabia is considered a U.S. ally and numerous corporations do business in the country. The problem here is the hypocrisy. Trump has been hammering Clinton about taking money from Saudi Arabia for months.

One of Trump’s most vocal supporters, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, has demanded that Clinton apologize for taking Saudi money. …

Trump himself hasn’t been very open about his ties to Saudi Arabia. He recently told Sean Hannity that he wouldn’t take any money from Saudi Arabia. Like a lot of things he says, this contradicted what he said last year about his business dealings with Saudi Arabia:

“I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

Until Trump **releases his tax returns** we don’t know how much money he has made from Saudi Arabia, but it’s enough that he loses any right to criticize Clinton without looking like a hypocrite. Hopefully, he releases them prior to November so the American people can make a fully informed decision about their next president. /end of excerpts

http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/09/04/just-in-ny-daily-news-uncovers-donald-trumpsaudi-arabia-shady-money-funnel-details/

 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 05:16:34

Pimping the victim narrative:

“Metro Denver residents who lost their homes in foreclosure during the Great Recession must endure yet another indignity all these years later: watching on the sidelines as the properties they once owned skyrocket in value at some of the highest rates in the country.

Foreclosed homes dropped by 22 percent on average from their prior peak values. But they have since grown by 75 percent compared with a 62.2 percent rebound for all metro Denver homes from the market bottom.

(italics for Mr. Banker)

That means homeowners who sold off worldly possessions, begged and borrowed from friends and family and endured months of frustration working through a loan modification to keep their homes made the right choice.”

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/07/12/foreclosures-haunt-metro-denver/

Made the right choice? Debt is slavery.

Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 14:56:30

See why 20% down in an non-bubbly situation is always a good idea? 100% down is better. Talk about watching a 10 year moving train wreck. Glad I didn’t have to participate.

 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2016-07-13 05:36:44

when will we see some helicopter cash falling from the heavens?

How do you guys like overpaying for stocks and homes thx to central banks?

Comment by Jingle Male
2016-07-13 06:37:43

Sold 50% of stocks and went to money market funds at DOW $17,500 in March. Getting ready to sell the other 50% at DOW $18,500 soon. I may be early, but I be ready to buy in 2018 and sleep very well in the interim.

Comment by azdude
2016-07-13 06:58:09

Do u really think the central banks will allow a market crash and destroy everything they have built since 2009?

Isn’t that the million dollar question?

Can they keep this up?

There was a chart flowing around yesterday with all the asset purchases form central banks around the world.

They have unlimited cash to buy stocks.

Comment by Jingle Male
2016-07-13 07:23:31

With 7 years of expansion, there must be a correction coming sometime in the next year or two. That is the whole point of this blog: What goes up must come down.

I don’t think we will see a 2007 type bust, but certainly we are going to see some tougher times as the economy runs out of steam. Why would it be any different this time?

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 07:39:21

Well there was supposed to be a correction in Summer 2015, and it started to dip, but they quickly recovered it and have since surpassed. Everyone was calling for the 10% dip to lead into an Oct bloodbath, and it never happened. To the moon!

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-07-13 07:45:42

It is running out of steam. I see articles about consumers cutting back spending even with negative interest rates. Some large company stocks are noticeably below their peak price. Toyota is down. There are too many old Toyotas being driven. Geez I still see Celicas in reasonable shape.

Year over year wages up only 2.9%, how long can realhores keep house prices artificially high while consumers are cutting back?

 
Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:09:45

Yeah producing a quality cheap car is not good for stocks. Darn Toyota and Honda! Have you read “The Machine that Changed the World” ? It was authored by a group studying the Toyota production method which became “lean engineering”. Pretty awesome how badly they kicked the US auto industries behind with minimal capital and car models from the 70s-90s

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:17:58

” how long can realhores keep house prices artificially high while consumers are cutting back?”

How long can everyone endure a moribund economy as a result of cratering demand?

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-07-13 09:52:17

Have you read “The Machine that Changed the World” ? It was authored by a group studying the Toyota production method which became “lean engineering”.

No I have not read it. I need to look that up. Have several books on my stack, one should be arriving anytime and is about why the American Revolution was actually lost when the constitution was ratified - about how the federalism beat the anti-federalists.

I’ve drivin Toyotas longer than I have driven Chevy’s and Fords (what I previously owned) combined.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 10:02:27

It is running out of steam. I see articles about consumers cutting back spending even with negative interest rates. Some large company stocks are noticeably below their peak price. Toyota is down. There are too many old Toyotas being driven. Geez I still see Celicas in reasonable shape.

I’m surprised that the automakers in the US haven’t lobbied for an annual test a la UK Ministry of Transportation test. That test is so stringent that when a car hits the 10 year mark the “repair” laundry list is so long (full of expensive, unnecessary repairs) and so costly (think $8000 USD) that 10 year old cars, even Toyotas and Hondas (which are still running trouble free) end up in the junk yard and drivers are forced to buy newer cars.

 
Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 10:31:27

My friend’s family is from the UK, and this was recently explained to me, it basically amounts to a “lemon law”. They said the repair industry for new floor pans, welding, etc is pretty significant so people can pass those lemon tests, which can fail your car for structural “issues”. Classic Govt meddling where they have no business.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 11:36:10

I’ve heard stories of replacing perfectly good radiators, hoses, brake systems, transmissions, complete suspension systems, exhaust systems, etc., simply because they looked “worn”. Not broken, worn. As we know in the US, most of those “worn components” probably have another 10 years of life in them.

Those who are handy will fix the cars themselves and take them back for a reinspection, but those parts don’t come cheap, especially for European brand cars. I was told that there is pretty much nothing equivalent to the auto parts store chains we have in the US. Meaning you have to buy the parts at the dealership. No remanufactured starters, water pumps or alternators; either. Just pricey factory new parts.

 
Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 12:16:33

Plus for a supposedly environmentally conscious nation, crushing all those cars and parts have to be stored/melted down somewhere. The energy spent scrapping is not worth the imaginary hazard of “worn” out cars.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 12:35:38

It’s nothing more than a scam to get people to buy new cars before their time (unless they’re French or Italian cars, in which case they really are ready for the junkyard at 10 years).

But what really makes me laugh, is that even though the MOT forces all these unnecessary repairs, I never saw so many gleaming, late model cars (again, mostly French and Italian brands) broken down at the side of the road. One day we drove to Oxford from Corwall in the BIL’s Nissan and hit some really bad traffic, which turned a 5 hour drive into a 9 hour drive.

Now keep in mind, even though it was “summer”, temps were below 70F, so in other words, by American standards it was a cool summer day. Yet the road was littered with over heated cars, which didn’t strike my BIL as odd.

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-07-13 12:47:08

“…That test is so stringent that when a car hits the 10 year mark the “repair” laundry list is so long (full of expensive, unnecessary repairs) and so costly (think $8000 USD) …”

That $8,000 is not yet in my experience on my 13 year old Toyota. I may have spent $2,000 last year though.

I understand the cost of repairs on higher end cars go up - just a routine brake job on an infiniti is astronomical compared to one on the lesser cousin, the Nissan.

I guess I trust what Consumer Reports has said all along about repairs, reliability - Honda and Toyota have been tops for years. But I have not read Consumer reports in awhile.

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-07-13 12:49:46

In Colorado,

I would imagine the Toyota and Honda car companies have good lobbyists in the USA. Remember, they have lots of auto workers building Toyotas in the USA. So maybe that is why there is not a crony capitalist law to force reliable foreign cars off the road.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 16:01:17

That $8,000 is not yet in my experience on my 13 year old Toyota. I may have spent $2,000 last year though.

Like I said, they are expensive, unnecessary repairs whose sole purpose is to get you to throw away a perfectly good car and buy a new one.

When I told my BIL that the age of the average American car is 11 years, his eyes almost popped out. You just don’t see beaters over there, because, they’re illegal.

I believe that Paris also outlawed parking beaters in the city. So even if it’s well kept and runs like a new car, it’s not welcome. Go buy a new one. Monsieur.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 16:07:42

I would imagine the Toyota and Honda car companies have good lobbyists in the USA. Remember, they have lots of auto workers building Toyotas in the USA. So maybe that is why there is not a crony capitalist law to force reliable foreign cars off the road.

I think it would make a lot of people hopping mad if they tried that here. Starting off with a beater is a rite of passage for most young Americans. Plus the lucky duckies would be up the creek without a paddle if they had to buy newer cars. In the western US public transportation is a joke.

Also, the oil companies would be very unhappy if half the cars on the road could no longer circulate. Many her kvetch about Cash for Clunkers, which removed a few hundred thousand gas guzzlers from the road. Now imagine if 120,000,000 cars went poof. One thing is certain: commutes would improve.

 
 
 
Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 14:35:26

Always keep some dry powder handy.

 
 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 07:51:19

With collapsing demand for everything you can name and record excess supply around the globe and record-high joblessness for a decade, what do you think is going to happen?

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 09:29:55

Craft breweries have grown some 500% in the last decade, and yet all of their beers are still $6-8.

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 09:38:30

These merely represent YellenBux looking for a place to die.

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Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-07-13 10:54:32

‘Craft breweries have grown some 500% in the last decade, and yet all of their beers are still $6-8.’

About 20 years ago when Sam Adams was going IPO and had become the alternative to Bud and imports, that is when the warp drive really began. I truly think the flood of money and newly minted wannabe entrepreneur vis a vis internet business idea has driven this. For some reason, beverages in this country are a good percentage of our daily discretionary spending.

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 11:14:47

Those beverages, after 3 or 4, make us forget about the non stop BS MSM news cycle haha. Plus I enjoy a nice Saison or Imperial Stout.

I am fed up with the people who think their homebrew deserves to become a flagship of their brewery start up. I’ve visited most of the major craft beer mecca’s here stateside (Asheville, both Portlands, Boston, Seattle, SD) and a good chunk of those breweries leave you saying, “meh”. But now, craft breweries are the cool place to be on a Fri or Sat

 
Comment by rms
2016-07-13 22:42:25

Oregon has several great breweries.

 
 
 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-07-13 17:43:18

I’ve been above 30% in government securities and cash for quite a spell. No reason to go above 40% in that stuff. I determined that humans are still thinking and creating wonderful and useful products to make life easier.

It’s not my problem that other people don’t like to think that stock prices can still reflect real innovation. Think were we’d be if not for the internet and cable.

Reading books and being outdoors and looking people in the eye instead of staring at wallet-sized phones.

 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 05:44:24

“Sanders, by deciding to cave and endorse Clinton – he argues questionably that he has to in order to prevent the possible election of likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump – has gravely diminished what he accomplished. As many left critics of his campaign long warned, by endorsing Clinton he will no doubt succeed in urging many of his millions of supporters to “hold their noses” and vote for Clinton in November, and will also demoralize others who may retreat into apolitical cynicism and not vote at all. But I suspect that at least 15-20% of his supporters – and that’s 2-3 million people – will be inspired to move on to a new kind of activism, backing the Green Party and its likely candidate for president, Dr. Jill Stein, as I plan to do.

Demonstrations planned for the streets outside the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, which would have had some real excitement to them if there were still a chance that Sanders might jump to the Green Party in the end, are likely to be more desultory affairs, limited as they will be to protesting Clinton’s ascendancy to the role of official party nominee for president. Sanders will get to make his final speech of the campaign on national TV, but it will be an anticlimax without his being able to rip into the corrupting big money that has bought the party’s candidate.”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/13/bernie-sanders-endorses-hillary-clinton-candidate-of-wall-street-and-corporate-power/

Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 05:48:38

Real journalists provide the following narrative:

“The resentment among whites feels both old and distinctly of this moment. It is shaped by the reality of demographic change, by a decade and a half of war in the Middle East, and by unease with the newly confident and confrontational activism of young blacks furious over police violence. It is mingled with patriotism, pride, fear and a sense that an America without them at its center is not really America anymore.

In the months since Mr. Trump began his campaign, the percentage of Americans who say race relations are worsening has increased, reaching nearly half in an April poll by CBS News. The sharpest rise was among Republicans: Sixty percent said race relations were getting worse.

And Mr. Trump’s rise is shifting the country’s racial discourse just as the millennial generation comes fully of age, more and more distant from the horrors of the Holocaust, or the government-sanctioned racism of Jim Crow.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/us/politics/donald-trump-white-identity.html

Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 07:21:40

Here’s a counter-narrative:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-12/ordained-african-american-minister-asks-what-if-whites-strike-back

He brings up some interesting points:

“It would serve race mongers well to consider that even a docile old dog will bite you if you mistreat it often enough and long enough. Tangential to same is the reality of the “laws of unintended consequences.”

I’m tired of seeing, reading, and hearing white people blamed for everything from black boys not being able to read to whites being privileged because of the color of their skin. If I am tired of these Americans being used as scapegoats to further the agenda of race mongers, then it is a sure bet that those being unjustly vilified are especially weary of same.

This isn’t 1860 and it certainly isn’t 1955. There are no slaves in America and there are no Jim Crow laws dictating access based on skin color. Specific to that point it is time to remind people like Obama, Al Sharpton, and the New Black Panther Party that the racial discord they are fomenting can become the harbinger of their own peril.

Obama foments racial unrest and a racial divide to further his neo-Leninist agenda. Sharpton foments racial unrest for personal gain. The New Black Panther Party foments racial hostilities and the demonization of whites in the foolish belief they can bring about a Western version of apartheid where blacks rule.

Too many blacks have lost sight of the fact that it was Africans who were responsible for the enslavement of other Africans. It was war, invasion, conquest, and various caste systems that contributed to slavery. And although one would be hard-pressed to believe it from the invented myths that masquerade as fact, persons of color were not the only slaves.

From Genesis to the Sudan of today, slavery has been a staple around the world. And it should be noted that given the first opportunity in America, the former slaves of color became owners of those whose skin color matched theirs.

But unlike the rest of the world, America had the good sense and decency to end slavery. In America, there is no caste system, and yet at every turn we are bombarded with how bad blacks have it because of whites and how unfair the so-called “white system” is to blacks.

All people, including those who are here illegally, have it better in America than they would have it anywhere else on earth. And yet blacks are encouraged to blame their ills on whites.”

Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 10:10:20

You won’t read or hear that in the MSM.

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Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 10:49:33

Here’s another thing you won’t hear in the MSM:

The Klan was essentially a psyops to keep blacks and whites from uniting and working together post Civil War. I read a fascinating article by a Bernie supporting journalist who lived in Arkansas, a lady, who did a lot of historical research. After the War of Northern Aggression, poor blacks and whites started uniting and working together and even intermarrying for sheer survival during the “Reconstruction”. TPTB of the time just couldn’t allow that to happen. Enter the Klu Klux Klan, to deliberately foment hatred and distrust between the races. Sound familiar? Oh, wait…

The theme of blacks and whites working together runs through some of the John Grisham books, such as “A Painted House”. I remember when Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame was excoriated for his fond reminiscence of working alongside blacks in the South, chopping cotton. The SJWs and the MSM came after him with a vengeance. Heaven forbid someone should tell the truth.

And the truth is, there’s a great deal of money and power invested in stirring up racial dis-harmony. It’s a game and the major players don’t want it to go away.

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 11:06:09

Heck, even minor players don’t want it to go away. Many of them get paid for participating, too, although not as much as the big playahs.

And then there’s the rewards of the “micro-aggressions”, some of which I’ve seen on this blog, from a couple of posters who like to drop the word “bigot” like a load after a dinner at Chipotle.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 11:10:54

Your memory of the incident with the duck guy must be faulty. No one would excoriate him for discussing work alongside black people.

 
Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:22:14

Trivia: Mississippi had two black US Senators right after the civil war. But after them, there wasn’t another black US Senator until 1967 (Sen. Brooke from MA).

 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-07-13 11:39:55

‘Your memory of the incident with the duck guy must be faulty. No one would excoriate him for discussing work alongside black people.’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/phil-robertson-black-people_n_4473474.html

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 11:56:07

There it is, with the sort of twisted slant that only HuffPo can give.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 12:32:09

Thanks for confirming my point with that link. The problem was the idea that everything was fine back in the days of segregation and lynching.

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 13:09:57

He didn’t say that.

Don’t eat at Chipotle. I suspect you’d be out of a gig real fast if there was such a thing as racial harmony, therefore it’s very likely in your interest (and that of your wallet) to twist and bait and misinterpret. That’s the problem, actually.

You seem to have no other purpose here than to “police” what people say.

You don’t seem to have all that much interest in the markets, housing, financial or environmental issues. Why do you post here?

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 13:22:25

He said that black people were happy. The implication is that life was OK for them in the segregated south. Perhaps he wasn’t trying to make that point. If that was the case, it’s unclear what the point of his statement was.

 
Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 13:49:46

You won’t believe this, but I have heard older black folks observing that while blatant discrimination and segregation certainly sucked, there was a much stronger community in those days.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 14:58:12

That’s quite possible. It reminds of people who say that good things happened during the Great Depression because marginal businesses went bankrupt. If some institution is sufficiently complex, it will have positive attributes.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 17:19:07

You don’t seem to have all that much interest in the markets, housing, financial or environmental issues. Why do you post here?

Your question is part of the answer to itself. I’m fascinated with the whole right wing ideology of America. It’s based on lies, hypocrisy and arguments that make no sense. It’s interesting to see the result when this nonsense is refuted. Do you take the opportunity to learn something? No, you question my motivation for speaking the truth.

The duck guy is just another example. Even if you actually think that he was falsely accused of something, why would it bother you so much? Is he a friend of yours?

 
 
Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:18:22

“…lost sight of the fact that it was Africans who were responsible for the enslavement of other Africans.”

IIRC the opening scenes of Roots portray things differently. Therefore that must be the way it all actually happened, according to many.

Thomas Sowell has written well on the history of slavery.

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Comment by oxide
2016-07-13 13:32:41

Too many blacks have lost sight of the fact that it was Africans who were responsible for the enslavement of other Africans.

Too many racist whites have lost sight of the fact that it was whites who continued to enslave Africans and their children long after the end of importation. And those whites fought to the death — literally — to hold on to those slaves.

the former slaves of color became owners of those whose skin color matched theirs.

Freed slaves saved up the money to buy their own wives and children. It was the only way to make sure that family members would not be sold to another estate far away.

The author could have made his other points WITHOUT parroting standard-issue talking points spread around by racist Republican rednecks to rationalize their continued racism.

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Comment by TheFabulousMoolah
2016-07-13 05:58:20

Yes, they go to Jill Stein or stay home mostly. Which, in an already turnout depressed democratic race, means President Trump who can close the borders with the stroke of a pen.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:17:10

Jill Stein and the Libertarian Party = open borders. Vote for national suicide? I think not.

 
 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-07-13 07:48:55

Uh, there are other choices. Gary Johnson will be on the ballot here in Maine this November.

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 10:12:24

Nice! I love when people say voting for 3rd party or an alternate candidate is a vote for Hillary or Trump. It was the argument against Perot, Nader, and Paul.

Comment by Rental Watch
2016-07-13 10:25:29

I had someone visibly get upset with me because I told them I would not be voting for either HRC or Trump. They said that Trump was SO bad that it was irresponsible NOT to vote for HRC.

Bullsh*t.

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 10:37:46

Yep, prototypical sheeple. Or my favorite rebuttal “well then your vote wont count”. Really? Voting for your candidate based on their political beliefs and plans, if against the status quo, is not being heard ? A lot of people said Ron Paul was looney, yet forget that accruing $19T in federal debt was going on under their noses, or being involved in 3 or 4 warzones with no end in sight was/is looney.

 
Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:25:52

We should be able to cast two votes for each office (in particular, POTUS): A first choice and a second choice. Those second choice votes might add up quick…

 
Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 15:05:52

Bottom line for many Alpha’s, winning is more important than convictions.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2016-07-13 12:38:34

“It was the argument against Perot, Nader, and Paul.”

And that argument is *well* justified. Perot took the election from Bush Sr and handed it to Clinton. Nader took the election from Gore and handed it to Bush Jr.

The most interesting part of the election will be the down-ticket coat-tails. Will there be enough Hillary-avoiders staying home to jeopardize the Dems’ run to take over the Senate?

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 12:59:30

It’s not taking the election from anyone, that’s the point. People voted for who they felt was best, not the lesser of two evils of antiquated parties. If more people voted with common sense, some 3rd party candidates would be front runners, but the media presents the one party system w/ two “different” candidates.

 
Comment by oxide
2016-07-13 13:47:56

I should clarify. Those elections *were* taken… according to the people who believe in voting for the lesser of two evils. That is the perspective from which I wrote my comment.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2016-07-13 05:51:11

“Here’s the magic part of helicopter money: to avoid all the problems of ever-rising debt in a stagnating economy, the central bank creates money out of thin air and buys the government bonds with the newly created money.
This is called monetizing the debt as new money is created out of thin to buy the debt. No tax revenues are needed, and so no sacrifices must be made to accumulate more debt. All the helicopter money is in effect free money because nobody has to pay anything for it.
Monetizing helicopter money is like a perpetual motion machine: it’s a magical machine for creating free money the government can spend any way it likes.”

http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/why-helicopter-money-wont-push-stocks-higher/

Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:27:29

So does this mean the end of the debt ceiling waiver next March will be a non-event?

Maybe we should just end the debt ceiling farce and eliminate it altogether?

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 06:09:04

Royce Mann, Age 14, “White Boy Privilege”, Slam Poem - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Q1jZ-LOT0 - 246k - Cached - Similar pages
Jun 27, 2016 .

Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 16:24:45

This SPLC bullsh#t even made the CBS Evening Propaganda with Scott Pelley tonight.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 06:22:32

This guy’s annual youth football camp must be something like LT’s.

The Waterboy - Don’t Smoke Crack - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfHOQAT0-Mk - 241k -

Police cite Indianapolis Colts running back on marijuana charge after traffic stop

Posted 7:08 am, July 13, 2016
by Matt Adams - Web Producer

LOGAN, Utah – An Indianapolis Colts running back was cited on a possession of marijuana charge in Utah after police saw him run a stop sign.

Robert Turbin, who signed with the Colts in the offseason, was stopped around 11:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Logan City Police Department. The incident happened a day before Turbin hosted his annual youth football camp.

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 09:02:12

Oh my goodness, possession of marijuana, so evil and criminal. Get this monster away from the children.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 10:23:07

He is just a running back, now if he were a quarterback…

Police cite former Indianapolis Colts quarterback on marijuana charge after traffic stop

Posted 7:08 am, July 13, 2061
by Matt Onions - Woh Producer

THIBODAUX, La. (TP) – A former Indianapolis Colts quarterback was cited on a possession of marijuana charge in Louisiana after police saw him run a stop sign.

Peyton Manning, who played for the Colts, was stopped around 11:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Thibodaux City Police Department. The incident happened a day before Manning hosted his annual Manning Passing Academy youth football camp.

Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:29:44

2061? Lol

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Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 12:36:34

by Matt Onions

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 06:57:17

AG Lynch refuses to answer questions over 74 times?

Comment by palmetto
2016-07-13 07:28:27

Was it that many?

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:18:27

But…but…”Most transparent administration in history!”

F**k you, Obama zombies.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 07:31:49

‘It’s no secret rents in San Francisco…were down in the fourth quarter and moderating at best because of the huge supply built there in last five years,’ Gerber said.’

Fell even more in 2016. Huge supply? But, sewer hook-ups. Skinny jeans. Won’t someone make this stop?

“There has been such a hunger for properties and competition between buyers that a number of deals have gone into contract before inspection reports were completed and at sale prices that the properties’ rents didn’t seem to justify, Higgins said. ‘It’s been an absolute feeding frenzy for the past two years,’ Higgins said. ‘It’s a bubble in the making. Then the buyers get in and realize they have put in more money to get the property to where they want it to be”

I know and there’s even for sale signs in Vancouver!

’such a hunger for properties and competition between buyers that a number of deals have gone into contract before inspection reports were completed and at sale prices that the properties’ rents didn’t seem to justify’

Oh dear…

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:55:07

Wonder what happens when a little 2 sec tremor or a minor 4.0 reacquaints all these newcomers to SF that mother nature is waiting to literally cause rents to crater.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 07:37:01

‘New York City’s ultraluxury real estate frenzy — with its sky-piercing condominium towers and $100 million price tags — has finally come to an end. Even with every conceivable amenity, the eight- and nine-digit prices attached to trophy homes with helicopter views and high-end finishes never bore much relation to actual value’

Just rent them out. What’s that? Rents wouldn’t cover the condo fees? Plus who needs 10,000 square feet? Why this scenario may even mean these safe deposit boxes in the sky have zero value. They could even be a liability.

 
Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-07-13 07:50:08

How Obama ruined his Dallas memorial speech
New York Post 16 hours ago

Answer: He showed up to give it.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 08:04:31

Obama Mentions Himself 45 Times During Memorial Speech For Dallas Officers

Peter Hasson
Reporter, Associate Editor
5:30 PM 07/12/2016

President Obama referred to himself 45 times over the course of the speech he delivered Tuesday at the memorial service for the five police officers killed in Dallas last week.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/12/obama-mentions-himself-45-times-during-memorial-speech-for-dallas-officers/#ixzz4EFuslqb0

 
Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:15:24

How many authors do you think it took to create that speech? 3 or 4 Pultizer prize winners? Mere pennies for the taxpayers.

Comment by Jesus Navas is my Lord Savior
2016-07-13 09:57:37

Conventional wisdom is democrats write their own speeches…it’s the pubies who read what someone else wrote.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 18:03:09

Time to End the Demonizing of Police
Two years of corrosive rhetoric about racist cops, based on falsehoods—with disastrous effect.
Outside the Dallas Police Department headquarters, July 10.
Photo: Getty
By Heather Mac Donald
July 12, 2016 6:37 p.m. ET

For two years American police departments have endured relentless attacks from the Obama administration, its media allies and the Black Lives Matter movement alleging that U.S. law enforcement is a racist, deadly threat to African-Americans. A handful of disturbing videos depicting police shootings helped galvanize widespread hostility to law-enforcement officers, and cops began backing away from the proactive policing that stops crime but has been repeatedly denounced as racial oppression.

The result, especially in the first half of this year, has been an appalling increase in shootings and murders in many cities across America. Most of the victims, in this poisonous era spawned by Black Lives Matter, have been black. Now the consequences of this stream of falsehoods about police may be spinning out of control, with the assassination of five police officers in Dallas last week and the attacks on cops in other cities since then.

Indifferent to these facts, President Obama on Thursday, referring to the police killings in Baton Rouge and St. Paul, said: “[T]hese are not isolated incidents. They’re symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system.” He made another sweeping allegation of law-enforcement racism, saying that there “are problems across our criminal justice system, there are biases—some conscious and unconscious—that have to be rooted out.” And he claimed that higher rates of arrests and stops among blacks reflect police discrimination; naturally, Mr. Obama remained silent about blacks’ far higher rates of crime.

Such corrosive rhetoric about the nation’s police officers and criminal-justice system is unsettling coming from the president of the United States, but it reflects how thoroughly the misinformation propagated by Black Lives Matter and the media has taken hold. Last month Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting in a case about police searches, wrote that blacks are “routinely targeted” by law enforcement, adding that “Until their voices matter, too, our justice system will continue to be anything but.”

Hillary Clinton has also taken up this warped cause. On CNN Friday, she decried “systemic” and “implicit bias” in police departments. She also called on “white people” to better understand blacks “who fear every time their children go somewhere.”

Mrs. Clinton ought to take a look at Chicago. Through July 9, 2,090 people have been shot this year, including a 3-year-old boy shot on Father’s Day who will be paralyzed for life, an 11-year-old boy wounded on the Fourth of July, and a 4-year-old boy wounded last week. How many of the 2,090 victims in Chicago were shot by cops? Nine.

 
 
Comment by Palm Beach County
2016-07-13 08:04:53

Fox Business (Varney & Co.) just said that out of the 1.1 MILLION new immigrants into Germany…50 have jobs. What are Obama & Hillary thinking? Where are these people living? Whose paying?

Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 10:07:29

I’ll be keeping a sharp eye open watching out for the sons of Mohammed next month when I’m in Munich.

 
Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 10:57:55

Germany is on the hook for some $90 billion for costs associated with refugees over the next few yrs.

Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:31:24

The SJWs will be happy to pay the taxes needed to cover that tab.

 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-07-13 11:03:52

That sounds like something made up by Fox. Also, it has nothing to with Obama. It’s none of his business.

 
 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:09:19

“There’s A Crater Under Every Bubble”

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=9646

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:25:33

“Be Aware, But Not There! National ‘Day of Rage(!!!)’ Scheduled For July 15th, 2016″

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-13/be-aware-not-there-national-day-rage-july-15th-2016

No DebtDonkey Rage allowed. Pay up.

Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 08:45:34

Crater.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 11:21:47

We’ll see if anyone shows up. Everyone will be too busy playing that stupid pokeman game on their smartphones.

Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:33:20

Let NK hackers or someone make that stupid game stop working, and you’ll see REAL rage!

 
 
 
Comment by Karen
2016-07-13 08:27:34

“New York is not alone. After the global financial crisis hit in 2008, investors turned to high-end real estate around the world as a safe place to park their millions. But since the middle of 2014, prime property values have dropped in Paris, Singapore, London, Moscow and Dubai, said Yolande Barnes, director of world research at Savills, a global real estate firm.”

What happened to the narrative that all real estate is local?

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 08:34:10

‘the eight- and nine-digit prices attached to trophy homes with helicopter views and high-end finishes never bore much relation to actual value. Rather, a class of superrich investors primarily drove the market, choosing high-priced real estate as their asset of choice, because it was less volatile than other investments and they could use shell companies to hide their identities’

‘never bore much relation to actual value’

And a global mania was build on this shifting sand.

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:37:39

“All real estate is local” is just another realtor marketing technique to get you to pay a grossly inflated price.

The reality is construction costs don’t vary more than 5% irrespective of location.

Comment by redmondjp
2016-07-13 10:11:57

Wrong, as usual, HA.

Construction costs vary widely.

Just look at building in NYC. All big trucks that deliver to the jobsites have to be out of the city by 6am or so. That is an additional cost.

You don’t have to incur additional costs like that in flyover country.

Stop repeating these outright fallacies.

Comment by Jesus Navas is my Lord Savior
2016-07-13 10:15:01

You don’t have to incur additional costs like that in flyover country.

These are little costs…not amount to much.

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Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 10:28:01

Nonsense.

Our NYC bid estimates are the same in Boston, LA, Denver, Miami, Seattle, etc.

Clearly you’re not in the construction business.

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Comment by redmondjp
2016-07-13 22:43:49

Clear you’re not either. And get back on your meds, the new handles are getting out of control again.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 12:34:52

All Real Estate Is Local: What You Need to Know to Profit in Real Estate - in a Buyer’s and a Seller’s Market
Hardcover – April 3, 2007
by David Lereah (Author)
2.4 out of 5 stars 5 customer reviews
Hardcover from $0.01
9 Used from $0.01
10 New from $4.56

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 08:31:46

‘It’s the tippy-top of Pitkin County’s real estate market that has taken a huge hit this year. In 2015 there were 30 residential properties sold for $10 million or more. This year that segment is off by more than 60 percent, according to Tim Estin, who published his most recent market analysis on July 8. And he said the trend is by no means unique to this market.’

‘The luxury sales declines correspond with what one hears about other high end real estate markets around the country,’ Estin wrote. ‘Sales are either off considerably or have stopped — foreign buyers have dried up, uncertainty prevails and there is an abundance of high priced inventory.’

Aspen went down early last time too. Funny, because they don’t have a lot of land there. Abundance of high priced inventory: they are rich. They don’t have to sell. So why is it so many are trying at the exact same time. It’s like speculators rushing for the exits.

‘Sales are either off considerably or have stopped’

And the exits are closing or closed.

Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 08:47:01

If you’re ever gonna get arrested somewhere in Colorado, get arrested in Aspen.

Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 10:04:02

You say this from personal experience? ;-)

Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 10:17:55

I got to spend one night as a guest of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department. They didn’t just give me a sandwich, they made me a sandwich.

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Comment by Jesus Navas is my Lord Savior
2016-07-13 11:06:13

Are you sure they didn’t spit on it?

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-07-13 14:24:43

No, I was a cooperative guest. I asked the women clerks in booking after they took the cuffs off (and while they made me a sandwich) if they got alot of people in there who pulled the “do you know who I am?” card and they said yeah and that they were always a bunch of nobodies.

 
Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 15:09:51

I hope you got Cheetos® with your sam’ich.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-07-13 08:35:47

Redwood City, CA Housing Prices Plummet 10% YoY On Billowing Housing Inventory

http://www.zillow.com/redwood-city-ca/home-values/

Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 08:43:32

Any City, California prices drop as more people emigrate from the state than immigrate. Period. Throw in faltering unicorn valuations and waalaah

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 08:46:10

crushing.housing.losses.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 10:24:13

not falling yet. OC still seeing multiple bids over asking

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Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 10:40:41

Are you sure?

Irvine prices cratered 17%.

http://www.zillow.com/irvine-ca-92620/home-values/

 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 11:37:34

HA is the master of posting bait. His handiwork./

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 11:48:21

Blame the source my friend. Blame the source.

Here are some more data for you that all point in the same direction. Tustin prices cratered 6% yoy

http://www.zillow.com/tustin-ca-92780/home-values/

who is ha?

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 12:26:17

HA is the master of posting bait. His handiwork.

Agreed, he cherry picks his data. He’s been claiming that prices have been cratering for years, even during the frothiest bubble years. He should never be taken seriously. He indeed posts bait because he wants to get into an argument. He loves to insult people, hurling names and ad hominem attacks left and right. For the life of me, I don’t understand why he wasn’t banned a long time ago. Others have been banned for far less.

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 12:33:39

Refute the data my friend. Refute the data.

Arlington, VA Housing Prices Crater 5% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/arlington-va/home-values/

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 12:37:14

He also plays dumb with all his many pseudonyms. That should tell you everything you need to know about him.

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 12:39:44

It’s only data.

Washington Park(Denver), CO Housing Prices Plunge 14% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/washington-park-denver-co/home-values/

 
Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 13:55:53

Using multiple pseudonyms might work if he switched up his posting style a little bit. Names come and go but the posts look the same.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 16:11:25

Using multiple pseudonyms might work if he switched up his posting style a little bit. Names come and go but the posts look the same.

As does his cherry picking stats. He was saying “crater” when markets around the country were on fire. You can always find a down market zipcode during a bubble, which is why his “stats” have always been less than worthless.

 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 20:04:46

Blame the source my friend. Blame the source.

Here is more data that points in the same direction. D-O-W-N.

Key West, FL Housing Prices Crater 11% YoY As Housing Demand Plummets To 20 Year Low

http://www.zillow.com/key-west-fl/home-values/

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-07-13 08:40:28

Silver Spring, MD Affordability Improves As Prices Sink 4% YoY At Peak Of Selling Season

http://www.movoto.com/silver-spring-md/market-trends/

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 09:15:51

Are you missing out on the rally in Treasurys?

Wow…

P.S. It may not be obvious, but the negative yield change numbers shown below in parentheses (TMUBMUSD…) represent massive capital gains to current bond owners.

Treasury yields retreat from nearly 3-week high as oil, stocks waver
Published: July 13, 2016 11:14 a.m. ET
Investors brace for $30-year Treasury bond sale to gauge demand
AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. Treasury is selling $12 billion in 30-year bonds today.
By Ellie Ismailidou
Markets reporter

Treasury prices rose Wednesday, leading yields to pull back from nearly three-week highs reached a day earlier.

A slump in oil prices and a pause in stocks recent streak of record-setting gains, supported buying in government bonds.

Demand for Treasury bonds got a boost, following a selloff a day earlier that led yields to spike by the most in eight weeks.

Historically, government bonds and stocks tend to move in opposite directions, with bonds getting a boost when stocks and other risk assets, such as oil futures (CLQ6, -3.85%) fall.

On Wednesday, as yields resumed their decline to record-low territory, investors were zeroing in on an auction of $12 billion in new 30-year Treasury bonds, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

Analysts said the results of the 30-year bond sale could help gauge whether there is still investor appetite for long-term U.S. government paper at such depressed yield levels.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury was unable to sell $20 billion in 10-year Treasury notes at an initial yield of 1.5%. The auction saw the weakest demand in about seven years, leading the notes to be sold at a higher yield of 1.516% and accelerating a selloff in Treasurys.

“Demand [for 30-year bonds] is still questionable sub-2.25%,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

Wednesday morning, the yield on the 30-year Treasury (TMUBMUSD30Y, -1.51%) known as the long bond, was down 4.6 basis points to 2.188%, according to Tradeweb. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield (TMUBMUSD10Y, -2.20%) was down 4.4 basis points to 1.469%, while the yield on the 2-year note (TMUBMUSD02Y, -5.22%) fell 2 basis points to 0.665%.

Comment by tresho
2016-07-13 09:34:32

I don’t currently own any bonds, so I guess I have been priced out forever.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 11:23:29

Down the wabbit hole we go…WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

The Financial Times
Sovereign Bonds
Germany claims eurozone first with negative yield bond sale
Berlin benefits with record-setting debt auction
5 hours ago
Elaine Moore

Germany set a new record in financial markets on Wednesday, becoming the first eurozone country to sell 10-year bonds with a negative yield in a government auction.

The sale illustrates how far-reaching Britain’s decision to leave the EU, and the uncertainty about the extent of possible economic spillover, further fuels a rush for haven assets and collapse in bond yields.

It also highlights investors’ belief that policymakers are on the cusp of delivering even more drastic action to stimulate economic growth.

On Thursday, the Bank of England is widely expected to cut interest rates for the first time in seven years in an effort to avert a Brexit-induced recession, while the US Federal Reserve may be forced to delay planned interest rate rises this year.

In Europe, the International Monetary Fund has downgraded its projections for eurozone growth, arguing that the UK’s split from the EU will drag on the region’s economy. The European Central Bank, which cut interest rates to minus 0.4 per cent and expanded quantitative easing in March, has left the door open to further interest rates cuts if required.

“Germany selling 10-year debt at a negative yield is connected to Brexit but the fact eurozone interest rates are already negative is acting as an anchor, pulling yields down in bond markets,” said Harvinder Sian, European rates strategist at Citi. “Few investors want to buy a negative yielding security but for many they have no choice.”

Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 11:36:49

“…while the US Federal Reserve may be forced to delay planned interest rate rises this year.”

Drats, and I was so counting on that happening!

Comment by Dandroidz
2016-07-13 15:55:32

Remember when “experts” estimated 3-5 rate hikes in 2016? :D

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 13:46:16

Markets
Why Ultralow Interest Rates Are Here to Stay
While central-bank bond buying is the proximate cause of a plunge in U.S. Treasury yields, the drop represents the cost of economic and political choices made over decades
Yields on 10-year debt issued by the U.S. Treasury, above, hit a record low this month.
Photo: Associated Press
By Colin Barr
July 13, 2016 11:58 a.m. ET

Ultralow interest rates are here to stay.

Central-bank bond buying is the proximate cause for the plunge this month of the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to its all-time low of 1.36%. But it would be a mistake to single out central bankers.

Slumping rates represent the cumulative cost of economic and political choices made over decades, ranging from an overreliance on debt-financed growth to creeping regulation. This sclerosis is the major driver of lower and lower interest rates, and the signs of it are evident just beneath the glossy surface of record stock and bond prices.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 21:21:11

Markets Credit Markets
U.S. Sells 30-Yr Bond at Record Low Yield but Demand Soars
Buyers snap up bonds after two days of declines; German 10-year bond yields turn negative
By Min Zeng
Updated July 13, 2016 3:41 p.m. ET

U.S. government bonds strengthened on Wednesday as buyers stepped in after the biggest two-day selloff since December.

The U.S. sold $12 billion of 30-year Treasury bonds at the lowest yield ever, yet the supply attracted the strongest demand from foreign investors on record.

The price strength and auction results reflect global investors’ persistent thirst amid a record amount of negative-yielding government bonds in Japan and Europe, driven by ultraloose monetary stimulus. Germany earlier Wednesday sold a 10-year bund with subzero yield for the first time.

Investors have been piling into long-term government debt to obtain income with yields in the developed world hitting historic lows after the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union in late June. The U.S. 30-year bond has been widely sought after as it offers not only the highest yield in the U.S. Treasury market, but also much more attractive yields compared with peers overseas.

The U.S. government has been among the beneficiaries as it continues to borrow cheaply to finance the budget deficit. Analysts warn that piling into long-term debt leaves bondholders vulnerable to potentially sharp capital losses if yields march higher, which would also push up the Treasury’s funding costs.

Few investors, though, expect a big and sustained rise in yields amid a sluggish global economy, low inflation, aging populations and accommodative interest-rate policy.

 
 
Comment by tresho
2016-07-13 09:33:32

Expensive housing strangling business growth in Leelanau County Michigan.
Leelanau County businesses - suffering from lack of employees during tourism months… A problem confirmed by a new study.

It says the reason behind the shortage for many Leelanau County businesses is the cost of living in the county, keeping potential workers away.

“We fear at some point were going to have to build a house or do something to house our employees” said Drew Lutke, co owner of Hop Lot Brewing.

N.B. Before about 1950, it was routine for farmers and some business owners to provide temporary housing for their seasonal workers during tourism months, in this part of Michigan.

Comment by Middle Coaster
2016-07-13 14:23:08

For seasonal workers, it isn’t a bad idea to build or otherwise provide them with housing.

Comment by tresho
2016-07-13 15:33:49

Employer-provided housing is an excellent idea, particular in that part of Michigan. Seasonal residency in a vacation mecca would draw workers from outside the area, since they could enjoy their time off more. Knowing Leelanau County as I do, that option is probably against the zoning regulations.

 
 
 
Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-07-13 09:43:28

ruh roh….another one bites the dust…..
And to think that my employer SERIOUSLY thought about foisting us employees onto this train wreck during re-up last fall…..outrageous.
And they are wondering why I quit.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/illinois-moves-shut-failing-insurance-op-40531933?yptr=yahoo

 
Comment by Jesus Navas is my Lord Savior
2016-07-13 09:50:09

It’s a bubble.

Walking around a vast array of cubical farms this morning I noticed few monitors stuck on real estate sites.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 15:36:55

Back in 1999 when I was an IT dork making big bucks getting everyone Y2K ready, they where all on solitary.

 
 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 10:26:39

I just heard, 3/2 Townhouse in Irvine near UCI 3 doors down from a friend’s, asking $880k, sold in 2 days for $910k. Chinese buyer, all cash.

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 10:49:22

All housing sales are cash. Borrowed cash.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 15:33:54

yep, no difference all cash in the bank ready to wire vs getting a loan and waiting….

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 19:59:07

It’s all dumb.borrowed.money my friend.

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Comment by dandroidz
2016-07-13 11:07:40

With more Yuan devaluations comes more capital outflow. Park that freshly printed cash. I still don’t understand how we shipped a country our manufacturing base with $2-4/hr jobs and they’re coming back to buy $600,700, and $800k houses in cash in the US ?

Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 11:10:47

It’s easy to borrow a half million dollars. It’s much harder to pay it back. Especially when the collateral is worth $200k.

Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 14:23:26

Exactly!

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Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 15:35:32

Another chinese game is buying high dollar black MB SUV;s and exporting them back to china to sell at 2x. MB forces a 6 mo wait on the title to slow it down.

their fake Yuan is buying everything in sight

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 12:12:40

I still don’t understand how we shipped a country our manufacturing base with $2-4/hr jobs and they’re coming back to buy $600,700, and $800k houses in cash in the US ?

Because it’s not the Chinese worker bees who are buying the houses in Vancouver or Silly Valley. It’s the grifting class that is pocketing all the profits, earned or stolen. For some people (not many) $800K is pocket change. The CEO at my employer (net worth in the tens of billions) paid $500M for the Island of Lania (Rupert Murdoch want 1B).
I really doubt Larry Ellison borrowed money to buy it. Ellison owns a series of Mansions around the world. His Palms Spring spread has it’s own private golf course.

Getting back to the Chicoms, according to Time magazine, China has over 2 million millionaires. The other 1.3B Chinese mostly live in squalor and won’t be buying anything in North America or Australia.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-07-13 12:27:37

The guy who got caught in Vancouver a couple weeks ago had apparently stolen from his Chinese company and bought 3 houses with no-down Canadian loans. The Australians recently threw their market into a tizzy when major banks said no more loans to foreigners. Remember the Chinese investors saying “how am I going to close?” We’re going to see plenty of foreclosures with these Chinese speculators.

People think we can’t read. They still go on about how everybody has 50% down in Miami Beach, when it’s more like 30% and I quoted a broker in the Miami Times saying all of his clients had refinanced (yes, refi’d a pre-construction condo), took the money and “bought more”. Despite what the REIC says, speculators there have layers upon layers of debt on multiple properties.

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Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 12:35:54

Exactly. This is all dumb.borrowed.money…… and it’s not going to end well.

 
 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 12:29:55

Larry Ellison nor Rupert Murdoch are borrowing to buy a house in Vancouver. Nor are we talking about tycoons buying islands and erecting resort hotels.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 20:28:30

World faces deflation shock as China devalues yuan at accelerating pace
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
8 July 2016 • 8:06am

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 21:17:49

Didn’t a yuan evaluation last summer precipitate China’s stock market crash?

Looking through the noise of the Brexit vote

Christian Pynsent
13 Jul 2016, 7 a.m.

The US dollar is getting stronger and this is going to cause chaos. We have seen two moments in the past year where fears of financial downturn have come from a strong USD. In August last year, the USD was causing the Chinese to devalue their currency, and in February this year, the USD caused the oil price to collapse. In both, the stock market crashes have made headlines.

So how does the Brexit fit in? Investors now have no faith in two of the world’s major reserve currencies - the pound, and the euro. This causes money to flood into the US and Japan into so-called safe government bonds. Investors are that cautious we have major government bonds with negative yields - meaning they will pay the government/central bank to hold their money.

A strong US dollar reduces export competitiveness which puts pressure on trade nations such as China, Japan, Australia, as well as most emerging markets. ​

We need to keep in mind that there could be upwards of $10 trillion of bad debt in China. A $500 billion bail-out hardly touches the surface.

 
 
 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 10:37:11

uh oh!

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s state-owned aircraft maker has signed a deal to sell up to 60 of its new regional jets to a leasing company in a deal worth up to $2.3 billion.

Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 12:15:55

We’ll see how many non Chinese carriers fly them. The Russians are still making airliners too, thought they are pretty much only sold to former Soviet Republics. Heck, Aeroflot mostly flies Airbus and Boeing on its international routes these days.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-07-13 16:49:34

Air Cuba will take em!

 
 
 
Comment by CEO Of The Couch
2016-07-13 10:47:38
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 12:31:20

Affordable gasoline prices are once again in sight!

Sub-$40 price stays in view as oil prices find more reasons to fall
Published: July 13, 2016 2:59 p.m. ET
$50 could be the top, sub-$40 the bottom for WTI, analysts say
By Myra P. Saefong
Markets/commodities reporter

Just a day after scoring their best session gain in three months, oil futures found fresh reasons to fall Wednesday and turned lower for the week.

August West Texas Intermediate crude (CLQ6, -4.04%) fell $2.05, or 4.4%, to settle at $44.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday—nearly erasing the previous day’s roughly 4.6% gain, which was the largest daily climb since April.

September Brent crude (LCOU6, -4.29%) finished at $46.26 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London, down $2.21, or 4.6%. The settlement was the lowest since mid-May.

The moves follow a drop of more than 7% for WTI and Brent in the week ended July 8—the biggest weekly percentage loss for both in over five months.

Comment by Anonymous
2016-07-13 13:58:47

Well, summer will be winding down soon, that’s the time of year gas prices traditionally start going down, right?

 
 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-07-13 10:53:56

UK Fund Managers Start Dumping Properties, Admit “Real Estate Needed Re-Pricing”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-12/uk-fund-managers-start-dumping-properties-admit-real-estate-needed-re-pricing

As the blog owner stated earlier today, ‘buckle up because it’s just getting started.’

 
Comment by frankie
2016-07-13 11:14:07

Italy’s economy will not return to the levels seen before the 2008 financial crisis until the mid-2020s, the IMF has said, implying “two lost decades”.

By the mid-2020s, it says the economies of other eurozone members will be 20-25% larger than levels seen in 2008.

The Fund’s comments came as it cut its growth forecasts for the eurozone’s third largest economy.

It now expects Italy’s economy to grow by less than 1% this year, compared with an earlier estimate of 1.1%.

The IMF also cut its growth forecast for 2017 to about 1% from 1.25%.

Italy has an unemployment rate of 11% and a banking sector in crisis, with government debt second only to that of Greece.

Italian banks are weighed down by massive bad debts, and may need a significant injection of funds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36770311

Comment by In Colorado
2016-07-13 11:43:25

By the mid-2020s, it says the economies of other eurozone members will be 20-25% larger than levels seen in 2008.

Yeah, I’m sure that’s gonna happen, cuz the rest of the EU is firing on all cylinders. Not.

Comment by frankie
2016-07-13 14:16:05

they can dream ;)

 
 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-07-13 11:39:29

Tampa, FL Affordability Surges As Housing Prices Tumble 8% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/tampa-palms-tampa-fl/home-values/

 
Comment by Puggs
2016-07-13 14:09:50

“New York is not alone. After the global financial crisis hit in 2008, investors turned to high-end real estate around the world as a safe place to park their millions.”

Recession for the rest of us.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-07-13 14:39:00

how about some communal living…..or renting your life away

https://www.welive.com/

 
Comment by azdude
2016-07-13 15:57:30

when is the next round of stimulous checks going to come out? Walmart needs a boost to the bottom line.

We need the fed to print some more cash and buy some more treasuries so people can have a good xmas !

I need another flatscreen for the sh@tter wall!

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:24:46

So let’s say the South China Sea dispute with China escalates to a force-on-force conflict, and tit-for-tat economic warfare. I can see that scenario bringing the flow of Chinese embezzlers buying up North American real estate to a screeching halt.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/12/global-arms-race-escalates-as-sabres-rattle-in-south-china-sea/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by aNYCdj
2016-07-14 04:08:12

its gotten to the point of getting services by demanding they treat me like a illegal….or i’ll sue for discrimination.

that will be the next outrage, bill collectors going after americans for their emergency room costs, while letting illegals slide.

Comment by Tarara Boomdea
2016-07-14 09:55:12

bill collectors going after americans for their emergency room costs, while letting illegals slide

They do.

Years ago, when I was in the restaurant biz, one of the guys cut himself and we took him to the emergency room. We wanted to be sure that he was taken care of and that we would be billed. An Indian customer (dot, not feather) laughed at us going out the door because we didn’t just tell our employee to get on the subway and to use a fake name when he got to the ER so we wouldn’t have to pay.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-07-13 17:33:48

Hillary the ” Extremely Careless” says the Donald would use the IRS to go after his critics and opponents. :) Not a smidgen

Posted By Ian Schwartz
On Date July 13, 2016

At a campaign event in Springfield, Illinois Wednesday afternoon presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton warned Donald Trump would use the military and IRS “to go after his critics and opponents.”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/07/13/hillary_clinton_warns_trump_could_use_military_irs_to_punish_critics_and_opponents.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages
6 hours ago

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:34:03

With Yellen the Felon intent on printing away all government and corporate debts and liabilities, gold and silver are set to soar.

http://www.businessinsider.com/2000-gold-is-a-real-possibility-2016-7

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:36:36

Millennials are giving Boomers some serious competition in the category of “Most Worthless Generation in Human History.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1436480/millennials-are-lazy-self-indulgent-and-lack-the-initiative-to-be-successful-warns-lifestyle-guru-martha-stewart/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:42:16

The Comrades of Proven Worth at the NEA, despite their physical repulsiveness, will always go that extra mile when it comes to further degrading our public education system and their “profession.” Forward!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/female-teacher-sleeps-with-five-pupils-telling-one-just-became-paedophile-us-pennsylvania-michelle-a7134771.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:52:08

Venezuelans voted themselves freebies someone else would have to pay for, i.e. socialism. Now they’re getting exactly what they deserve: hunger and deprivation. Watch and learn, Democrats.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-13/maduro-puts-military-charge-venezuelas-food

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-07-13 17:53:40

Zika cases spreading throughout Florida - bullish for housing, right? Added bonus: Zika babies make the perfect lifetime Democrat dependency voters.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article89422077.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-07-13 20:11:06

Mead, WA Housing Prices Plunge 15% As Housing Correction Accelerates Nationally

http://www.zillow.com/mead-wa/home-values/

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-07-13 23:15:29

Can anyone remember back to when banks were considered too big to fail?

Heard on the Street
Why This Bank Is at the Center of a Battle for Europe
Italy’s banking crisis is testing new financial regulations
Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has the highest ratio of bad loans to total loans and the lowest valued shares.
Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
By Paul J. Davies
July 12, 2016 4:59 a.m. ET

Brussels is caught in a game of chicken with the Italian banking system and both sides are wrestling with highly unpredictable outcomes.

Italy wants to use public money to shore up its weakest banks and help them all to keep lending. But since the financial crisis, regulators have fought to ensure banks are no longer too big to fail and have made it all but impossible to use taxpayers’ money.

In the middle of this standoff is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s third-biggest bank by assets, which has the highest ratio of bad loans to total loans and the lowest valued shares.

This has come to a head because stress tests at the end of July are likely to further expose Italian capital needs. And right now, no private investors seem willing to invest.

Things got worse after the British vote to leave Europe sparked a Europe-wide selloff in banks stocks that has left big Italian lenders like UniCredit trading at less than one-quarter of book value. Monte dei Paschi trades at less than one-tenth.

 
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