An Unsustainable, Debt-Filled Asset Bubble
It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “A new report confirms what many have been saying for several months now: The residential real estate market is losing steam around the Bay Area. Even in the inland counties — heretofore a safety valve for buyers seeking affordability — sales were lackluster. ‘Prices can continue to skate higher for a while, but at some point you run out of people willing to pay, and prices correct,’ said Madeline Schnapp, PropertyRadar’s director of economic research.”
“In early November, FBI Director James Comey was in the headlines in Connecticut – not because of his involvement in the presidential election, but because of the price cutting he undertook on his luxury home in the Green Farms section of Westport. Comey acquired the 3.17-acre, seven-bedroom, 2005-built property for $3 million in August 2010. Nearly five years later, he put the property back on the market with a price tag of nearly $3.4 million. However, more than a year passed and the property remained on the market. In early November, Comey cut the price down to $2.5 million – his fourth reduction in a span of 16 months.”
“Comey’s situation is hardly unique. According to third quarter data released by Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Fairfield County’s luxury residential market median sales price was $1.825 million, down 14.3 percent from the $2.13 million level one year earlier, while the luxury price threshold fell 11.3 percent to $1.3 million. ‘A lot of real estate people in the luxury market are starting to bring prices down a little bit,’ observed Wayne Frankel, CEO and regional owner of Greenwich-based Exit Realty of Connecticut.”
“Condo owners in Chicago’s Trump International Hotel & Tower are fretting about property values in a Donald Trump America, and at least two sellers dropped their asking price after the election. Listings show five price drops among 16 sellers of one-bedroom condos since late summer. There have been four price drops among 12 sellers of larger units. Gail Lissner, vice president at Appraisal Research Counselors expects some concerns — like protesters — to fade. Homeowners generally drop the price ‘when they’re in a distressed situation or particularly anxious to sell,’ she says.”
“A lawsuit alleges that the Palm House condominium-hotel is at the center of a vast criminal scheme in which more than 50 foreign investors were defrauded out of $50 million. According to the suit, a web of conspirators preyed on foreign nationals by inducing them to each invest $500,000, plus a $40,000 administrative fee, into the hotel. But the hotel was ‘nothing more than a facade pursuant to which plaintiffs’ funds were stolen and distributed among the conspirators.’”
“The plaintiffs sought to leave their home countries for opportunities in the United States through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which channels money from foreign investors into construction projects on American soil. Virtually none of the EB-5 money was used to develop the property, no jobs were created, and no EB-5 visas were issued to any of the plaintiffs, the lawsuit states. ‘Accordingly, over 80 foreigners are now unable to leave their respective countries and have lost their entire life savings.’”
“The lender for the developer of a 14-home project near the Hawaii Kai Executive Golf Course in East Oahu has filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the developer for not making timely payments on its $6.3 million loan, a principal for the developer confirmed to Pacific Business News. Buff Raiders Property LLC, whose partners include Paul Shinkawa, is the developer of the Kalama Hokupaa project. Shinkawa declined to disclosed the cost to develop Kalama Hokupaa, although home prices will start at $1.5 million. ‘We’re hopeful the market will still be there,’ Shinkawa said. ‘There is always a market for homes on Oahu. We have to make sure we are providing the types of homes that the market demands.’”
“If there is a weak spot in the Canberra housing market, it’s apartments. The median price fell 1.72 per cent in the year to October, but the number of building starts rose by a whopping 34.3 per cent, indicating that bullish apartment developers have not yet caught up with the realities of the market. ‘We’ve had such strong supply of apartments over the past couple of years that it’s really put negative pressure on price,’ says Powell, ‘and there’s still a lot of new apartments to be built. When those new apartments come onto the market, there will be – dare I say it – a bit of an oversupply of units, which is going to continue to put downward pressure on price.’”
“Christchurch landlords are using cash incentives and free rent to lure tenants as intensive housing development contributes to a surplus of rental units. Deals on offer include a $1000 cash-back offer, rent-free periods and no letting fee. The $1000 deal, offered for a tenant signing a 15-month lease on a four-bedroom Riccarton unit, has not been taken up and the property remains vacant after weeks of advertising. ‘There’s such an oversupply and there are so many units now. We just thought we’d try something new,’ said the property’s leasing agent, Lois Paton, of Westside Real Estate. ‘But we’ve had nothing, no-one suitable.’”
“According to Chestertons, Dubai rentals declined in the third quarter 2016 after remaining steady in the second quarter with the lease market remaining tenant favourable. ‘Given that tenants have a wide range of options to choose from, they are more likely to negotiate with their landlord; and if their requirements are not met, they will vacate. Whilst this was noticeable in Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim, this trend has spread throughout the wider Dubai market,’ said John Stevens, managing director at Asteco. ‘With more handovers expected in the next few months, we anticipate villa rental rates could come under further pressure.’”
“The developer of the Walkie-Talkie skyscraper and Victoria’s Nova offices steeled itself for a tough post-Brexit property market today as a £260 million blow to its portfolio sent it into the red. Land Securities, the UK’s biggest listed property firm, wrote down the overall value of its £14.4 billion estate by 1.8%, racking up a £95 million pre-tax loss for the six months to September. Chief executive Rob Noel painted a gloomy picture of London’s commercial property scene, predicting falling rents and prices ahead of the start of formal negotiations to leave the European Union.”
“‘If you’re running a business, if you do not know what your trading environment is going to be, do you make hasty moves and investment decisions? You probably rein back and hold off… We are going through a period when people are pulling their horns in.’”
“When a rumor spread in June 2015 that the Beijing city government would move most of its offices– potentially 400,000 workers–to the sleepy suburb of Tongzhou, property sales there doubled within weeks. Authorities confirmed the rumor a month later and quickly moved to arrest the frenzy, limiting sales to first-time buyers and longtime residents. By October last year, activity was down from over 1,500 sales a month to 500.”
“‘Tongzhou, all of a sudden, became like the focus of the world,’ said 29-year-old Chen Liang, who grew up in Tongzhou and blogs about life there. In May, Mr. Chen pooled money from relatives to buy a one-bedroom apartment for 2.22 million yuan($320,700). The drama in Tongzhou shows how hard it is for China to confront a homebuying spree in its biggest cities and keep property prices in check–even in a place where it is promoting development. The ultimate fear is an unsustainable, debt-filled asset bubble that causes broad damage when it bursts.”
“Prices chilled again after Beijing–along with 20 other cities–imposed fresh property-buying controls in early October. Beijing raised the down-payment requirement for first- and second-home purchases. Though the number of sales in Tongzhou didn’t drop, prices fell 39% from the previous month; Beijing prices slipped 3%.”
“‘People become very unhappy with rapid increases in housing prices, so the government feels it is important to dampen the increase,’ said Li Wei, an economics professor at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing. The local government had hoped to feed a real need for housing, not speculative demand, Mr. Li said. ‘If it is just empty shells there, it just doesn’t look very nice,’ he added.”
“Mr. Chen, the blogger, says he avoids posts about housing, out of fear of drawing government attention for spreading information that could drive up prices. Instead, his blog now features reports mostly on the weather, traffic accidents and lost pets.”
Wonder what kind of massive haircut the Clintons will take when they sell their Chappaqua mansion.
Maybe they can sell it to their charity and not give it away …
——
Comey acquired the 3.17-acre, seven-bedroom, 2005-built property for $3 million in August 2010. Nearly five years later, he put the property back on the market with a price tag of nearly $3.4 million. However, more than a year passed and the property remained on the market. In early November, Comey cut the price down to $2.5 million – his fourth reduction in a span of 16 months.”
Where’s az dude to tell us how much booty we missed out on the past few years?
That’s a pretty amazing price reduction—esp given that he purchased during the “good” years some folks have quoted (2010-12) of the last decline.
Down half a mil? And that’s not even counting his carrying costs, maintenance, etc.
I think we pay these guys too much if they can throw 3 million around. And Bernanke told us he couldn’t refinance.
Well, if you believe the fake news outlets, it looks like Comey made at least several million dollars while he was employed as a VP for Lockheed, prior to buying that house. He was also on the board of directors for HSBC bank for a while too. Both Lockheed and HSBC were supposedly big Clinton Foundation donors. I’d guess he put a good chunk of his money he got from Lockheed into that house.
And now he’s a member of The Slashers. I wonder if we can find his house on Zillow, so we can watch him keep slashing it.
A First Lady waitressing at a seafood restaurant to save up enough money to buy a car, while a civil servant buys a 3-acre multimillion-dollar estate. Could there be a better example of how screwed up our institutions have become?
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-maine-governor-idUSKCN0ZB0QS
Not too shabby…
—-
saying she was following in the footsteps of their daughter who made about $28 an hour last year as a food server.
$28 per hour, but only 3x per week.
I’m not knocking her at all for working or making money if she can. Just pointing out that there are some people who have had to readjust to a lower standard of living just like a lot of the country, and some who are totally insulated from it. The insulation seems to increase with proximity to the Federal gov’t/TBTF revolving door. (Although even that can’t insulate Comey from a $500k loss…
“What kind of car? Not a Mercedes or a Range Rover — the political elite’s preferred modes of transportation — but a Toyota RAV 4″
“Previously, she told WGME, she had spent her time on “first lady duties.” Without a second income, she noted, “it’s tight sometimes.””
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/25/shes-an-amazing-employee-wife-of-maine-governor-takes-waitressing-job-to-make-ends-meet/
So Comey was on the board of HSBC when they were busy illegally laundering all that drug cartel money? How conveeeeenient. Apparently he didnt grab enough of the blood money when he had the chance to pay off his mansion.
No worries, I’m betting he will be taken care of. Probably has a few pizza places in his rolodex #pizzagate
Ha, it is listed on Zillow.
I found it simply looking at the Westport Connecticut houses in the 2.5 million price range. The photo from the article matches, as well as the slashing history.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6-Westway-Rd-Westport-CT-06880/57411401_zpid/
Nice place!
Sorry I posted the above to the wrong reply level.
Check out the property taxes on that house — $35,000 a year, as of 2014. That’s almost $3,000/month simply for the taxes. And all those big beautiful lawns probably costs a couple thousand a month for landscaping, maids, pool service, etc.
Not to mention the losses to depreciation at $3/sq ft per year every year.
The house is clearly staged. And I’m gonna get nightmares from that animal rug next to the soaking tub in the middle of that cavernous bath.
Heh, yeah, probably is staged. That bathroom rug looks like someone spilled motor oil on the floor. And there’s some patchy spots in those lawns.
Maybe he should ask Bernie what it takes to get someone to buy you a house free and clear.
Like the gold chain on $Hillarys turkey neck sez, pimpin’ aint easy.
Bernie is a socialist when it comes your money.
His money and property are a different story.
The last time someone at work started espousing his rather socialistic belief system, I told him that I’d been admiring his house for some time, and was planning to move into his spare bedroom. He changed the subject fairly quickly.
Socialism for thee; my private property for me.
Somebody needs to ask Seattle mayor Ed Murray if he’s willing to pay out of pocket for all the illegal aliens he loves to provide for with the “sanctuary city” nonsense.
And 2010 was the low point of the echo boom
“You run out of people willing to pay, and prices correct.”
What a limited market. Smart enough to come up with a ton of money. And stupid enough to blow it on monuments to their ego.
“Condo owners in Chicago’s Trump International Hotel & Tower are fretting about property values in a Donald Trump America, and at least two sellers dropped their asking price after the election. Listings show five price drops among 16 sellers of one-bedroom condos since late summer. There have been four price drops among 12 sellers of larger units. Gail Lissner, vice president at Appraisal Research Counselors expects some concerns — like protesters — to fade. Homeowners generally drop the price ‘when they’re in a distressed situation or particularly anxious to sell,’ she says.”
Here is to hoping Donald Trump can make America’s real estate affordability great again. So far, so good.
An overpriced condo in Chicago.
The name could be Queen Victoria on it….
It’s still going to be a massive haircut.
Did I mention property taxes going up again by 20% this year?
Donald Trump is manna from heaven for the Blue State pols.
Just as working class Whites were dump enough to believe Trump was on their side, so the people in places such as Chicago and New York are dumb enough to blame Trump for everything. The politicians are already counting on it.
Why are taxes rising and services being cut? It’s that racist Donald Trump singling us out for punishment!
Best case scenario — Trump cuts funding for Blue States by a small amount. The pols there increase taxes and cut services by a large amount — and blame Trump.
Oh, look! Another sneerior being who thinks they know what Trump’s going to do.
Were you happy when he said he wants to help Hillary heal?
Were you happy when he said he wants to help Hillary heal?
It sounds like you think that you know what Trump will do as well. What he says means nothing. He may change his mind and lock her up.
Rent free.
“It sounds like you think that you know what Trump will do as well.”
No. I’m not foolish enough to try to predict any human being’s future behavior. I was actually glad that he won the election. Crooked Hillary just wasn’t my cup of tea…
“Were you happy when he said he wants to help Hillary heal?”
I don’t think anything can be done for that hole in her tongue.
I still want to know what that metal thingie was that dropped out of her pants leg the day they dragged her into the van.
You’ll still be going on about that fantasy five years from now. Talk about rent free.
It was an awesome moment in American history.
And this one: Hillary Conquers the Stairs!
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/image.jpeg
Best case scenario — Trump cuts funding for Blue States by a small amount. The pols there increase taxes and cut services by a large amount — and blame Trump.
This happened under Reagan. He got to brag about cutting taxes but the taxpayers had to make up for the cuts in aid to state and local governments through increased taxes paid to those governments.
Now it’s time to shutdown state and local.
See how having a spine gets results?
You’d like to shut down local government, wouldn’t you? Get rid of those pesky building inspectors.
It would be nice to think city building inspectors are an honest, objective bastion of truth, looking out for the “little guy” and keeping things honest. It would be nice to think that. The reality is many are in bed with the corrupt city officials cooking up fraudulent property scams for personal benefit. That’s the truth.
“You’d like to shut down local government, wouldn’t you? Get rid of those pesky building inspectors.”
The local governments are, in many ways, even more corrupt than the Fed Gov. “Building inspectors.” You mean, like the ones in SF who turned a blind eye, or an open pocket, to the leaning tower of Pisa’s twin?
There’s nothing more corrupt than corruptifornia.
It’s definitely time to shut down state and local.
A Sour Surprise for Public Pensions: Two Sets of Books
“When one of the tiniest pension funds imaginable — for Citrus Pest Control District No. 2, serving just six people in California — decided last year to convert itself to a 401(k) plan, it seemed like a no-brainer.”
“After all, the little fund held far more money than it needed, according to its official numbers from California’s renowned public pension system, Calpers.”
“Except it really didn’t.”
“In fact, it was significantly underfunded. Suddenly Calpers began demanding a payment of more than half a million dollars.”
Oh dear. And this, for one of the tiniest pension funds.
“The two competing ways of valuing a pension fund are often called the actuarial approach (which is geared toward helping employers plan stable annual budgets, as opposed to measuring assets and liabilities), and the market approach, which reflects more hard-nosed math.”
“The market-based numbers are “close to the truth of the liability,” Professor Sharpe said. But most elected officials want the smaller numbers, and actuaries provide what their clients want. “Somebody just should have stopped this whole charade,” he said.”
Just like the fraudulent ratings agencies help perpetuate the housing bubble. Got to please their clients after all.
“The problem reaches far beyond pensions, and into the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market. The reason is that municipal bond ratings take into account the strength (or weakness) of government pension plans. If those numbers have been consistently wrong, as dissidents argued, then actuaries were helping mislead the investors buying municipal bonds.”
Oops. Is $3.7 trillion a lot?
“A Sour Surprise for Public Pensions: Two Sets of Books”
Quite the read. Thanks!
“The lender for the developer of a 14-home project near the Hawaii Kai Executive Golf Course in East Oahu has filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the developer for not making timely payments on its $6.3 million loan, a principal for the developer confirmed to Pacific Business News. Buff Raiders Property LLC, whose partners include Paul Shinkawa, is the developer of the Kalama Hokupaa project. Shinkawa declined to disclosed the cost to develop Kalama Hokupaa, although home prices will start at $1.5 million. ‘We’re hopeful the market will still be there,’ Shinkawa said. ‘There is always a market for homes on Oahu. We have to make sure we are providing the types of homes that the market demands.’”
Golf developments ain’t all that any more, as Baby Boomers are reaching the age where they are too old and decrepit to play golf, and too broke to afford a $1.5 million outlay for a home on East Oahu.
Hopefully the all-cash Chinese and Canadian investors can save the day!
‘We’re hopeful the market will still be there’
But not so hopeful that you sent the check, right Paul?
‘Japan’s consumer prices fell in October, government data showed Friday, extending the longest string of declines in five years and underscoring its struggles to conquer deflation. The weak inflation data — core prices excluding fresh food fell 0.4 percent from a year ago — come several weeks after Japan’s central bank pushed back the timeline for hitting its 2.0 percent inflation target.’
‘The BoJ’s target is a key part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s faltering bid to pump up the world’s number three economy. The country has been struggling to reverse a deflationary spiral of falling prices and lacklustre growth but October’s data mark e’ight straight months of declines — the longest streak since 2011.
‘Japan’s prime minister hand-picked Kuroda to help drive his “Abenomics” growth blitz of big spending, easy money and structural reforms, unveiled in early 2013. But growth remains fragile while inflation is far below the BoJ’s target.’
‘Earlier this month, the central bank said it expected to hit two percent inflation by March 2019 — four years later than its original target and the latest in a string of delays. “What was supposed to be a quick two-year victory has transformed into a prolonged war of attrition that is set to drag on,” Yasunari Ueno, chief market economist at Mizuho Securities, said in a commentary.’
‘What was supposed to be a quick two-year victory has transformed into a prolonged war of attrition that is set to drag on’
And don’t forget the 20 years before the latest splurge. But don’t give in central bankers! You just keep hammering that one nail in the toolbox, undeterred, even though the scientific method would tell you otherwise.
sci·en·tif·ic meth·od
noun
noun: scientific method; plural noun: scientific methods
a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
A take home lesson from the present era in central banking may be that protracted periods of market distortion eventually end in mean reversion with overshooting.
“…modification of hypotheses.”
How long does the testing need to continue before the hypothesis can be rejected, especially if it is at odds with economic theory to begin with?
The scientific method makes a crucial assumption that past performance is an indication of future results. No one in finance claims this; in fact, they *dis*claim it.
This isn’t finance, it’s economics.
I don’t understand how anybody could think a massive increase in counterfeit money would increase inflation.
M1 and M2 combination still equals prior year’s totals.
I would have thought those smart fed and gov people would have concentrated on velocity rather than quantum to raise inflation.
Oh, I forgot, it was really about making government cheaper to operate with lower interest rates !
Trumpflation is the inflation that might appear during Donald J. Trump’s U.S. presidential administration. Though Trumpflation is still only speculative, markets have already signaled they believe Trump will spur inflation in the U.S. dollar.
BREAKING DOWN ‘Trumpflation’
Since Donald Trump emerged as the victor of the 2016 presidential election early in the morning of November 9, markets have been strongly indicating that higher inflation is on its way. According to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) report released November 10, 2016, rolling eight-week inflows to Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), the par value of which is linked to the consumer price index (CPI), hit a record. Ten-year Treasury yields rose 30 basis points to 2.15% between November 8 and November 10, leading to a steeper yield curve, which indicates higher inflation expectations.
…
I am trying to understand why Mr. Market believes Trump will succeed in creating inflation where all of the developed world’s central bankers have failed. Does he have some kind of financial alchemy at his disposal which central bankers lack?
Time for a rethink? Ben and others have offered plenty of evidence that Reagan’s supply side economics was deflationary, which is the usual result of a flood of new supply. Maybe this time is different.
Why Trump may be deflationary after all
By Michael A. Gayed
Published: Nov 26, 2016 9:32 a.m. ET
“Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” —Vince Lombardi
…
Apparently Mr. Market believes Trump will be a borrow-and-spend (in YUUUUUGE! quantities!!!) kind of President.
Hard to believe that he will exceed the $10T that Obama borrowed, but apparently that is what Mr. Market expects.
testing need to continue before the hypothesis can be rejected ??
It was rejected in September 2008….This new round is just a double down now with the Trump team & policies sprinkled on top…
What happened in September 2008?
Senator obama promised to reduce the deficit and save everyone $2500 on health insurance?
What happened in September 2008 ?
This;
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiB5cefs8TQAhUM6WMKHSmJAaIQFggaMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGlobal_financial_crisis_in_September_2008&usg=AFQjCNFTa3mpqMJfc_fI4tChmuTLqb-zAQ&sig2=31k_tpOj4swAyZGvw8hQNg&bvm=bv.139782543,d.cGc
The crisis was when house prices got too expensive.
The crisis was when house prices got too expensive ??
As they are now…Even more so in many areas…
And, built on the same foundation…Cheap money….
You mean dumb.borrowed.money. And they’re already defaulting.
creepy
During both hyper pricing events I don’t think any hypothesis was formed to try and analysis / solve the problem(s). By anyone.
Laissez faire.
The too expensive housing crisis is destined to continue until the point when collective recognition of the inanity stops the mania dead in its tracks. Meanwhile, rent a place while continuing to eat, drink and be merry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GielMXWQlbw
Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where Mighty and scdave would raise a glass or two
They would always laugh away the hours
And dream of great things that Obama’d do
Those were the days my friend
They thought they’d never end
They’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life they’d choose
They’d vote and never lose
For they were young and sure to have their way.
Just tonight they stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass they saw a strange reflection
How did Donald Trump beat Hillary?
Full version can be found at the bottom of
NOVEMBER 24, 2016
Cheaply Built Overpriced Rabbit Hutches!
Your just a internet punk Phony…Hollow core…
scdave
I for one am glad to see you progressing through the stages, lets hope 4 goes quickly and you can get on to Stage 5 and the rest of your life.
The Five Stages of Trump Grief
By Alexandra Petri
November 11
3. Anger
The fear clenches into a fist deep in your gut.
Bile rises in your throat. You begin to type furiously.
Everyone seems angrier now, not just you. Some of them aren’t even grieving. They were just always this angry. Now you see them.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2016/11/11/the-five-stages-of-trump-grief/
Remember, grieving is a personal process that has no time limit, nor one “right” way to do it.
How did Donald Trump beat Hillary?
Part of the answer is that people don’t take him literally.
Many in Florida Count on Obama’s Health Law, Even Amid Talk of Its Demise
MIAMI — Dalia Carmeli, who drives a trolley in downtown Miami, voted for Donald J. Trump on Election Day. A week later, she stopped in to see the enrollment counselor who will help her sign up for another year of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
“I hope it still stays the same,” said Ms. Carmeli, 64, who has Crohn’s disease and relies on her insurance to cover frequent doctor’s appointments and an array of medications.
Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress are vowing to repeal much or all of the health law, a target of their party’s contempt since the day it passed with only Democratic votes in 2010. If they succeed, they will set in motion an extraordinary dismantling of a major social program in the United States.
But for now, with open enrollment for 2017 underway, people are steadily signing up or renewing their coverage, and in conversations last week in South Florida, many refused to believe that a benefit they count on would actually be taken away.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/health/florida-affordable-care-act-obamacare-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Let’s hope Trump finally does something about the racket that is Big Pharma.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/11/25/profits-over-people-how-big-pharma-money-affects-our-health-and-wallets/
Degrader and Demoralizer. Ankle Biter.
“said Odalys Arevalo, an owner of Sunshine Life and Health Advisors, an insurance agency that she said has enrolled tens of thousands of Floridians, mostly working-class Hispanics,”
Working class Hispanics are mostly who I know of who signed up for Obamacare also. The only white dude I knew was a wallpaper hanger who made over half of his income in cash.
I think it’s that unreported income that make it affordable.
A friend of mine was a huge HRC supporter (manned phones for her, etc.).
She thinks that the best thing to come from a Trump Presidency is that the ACA would be scrapped. She’s in her 50’s, works full time as a nanny, and pays $500-$600 per month, PLUS a massive deductible for her coverage.
Does she have some reason to believe that scrapping the ACA will improve her situation?
She’ll still be stupid and amoral, so how will her situation change for the better?
She’s comparing the situation to what it was like before for her. She doesn’t want to be forced to buy a certain kind of insurance.
She feels trapped.
She’s probably hoping that ACA will crash and burn into single payer. But her problem isn’t Trump — it’s Paul Ryan. If Ryan manages to pull off Vouchercare, she is right in that vulnerable age group that would suffer most.
Big Pharma will always find a way to block inexpensive, effective, natural treatments from being options for the afflicted.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/17/magic-mushrooms-lifts-severe-depression-in-trial/
“How did Donald Trump beat Hillary?”
Could it have something to do with an archaic Electoral College system that was rigged during the Antebellum period to protect the institution of slavery?
Oh, YAY! Another wikileaks dump! This time it’s the “Yemen Files”. This oughta be good.
https://wikileaks.org/yemen-files/?saudi
Southlake, TX Housing Prices Crater 6% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/southlake-tx/home-values/
How about trying something old, like, I dunno… lowering the price?
Canton, MA Housing Prices Crater 6% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/canton-ma/home-values/
Manufacturing Jobs Aren’t Coming Back
President-elect Trump’s promise to bring back production jobs ignores the realities of advanced manufacturing.
by Mark Muro November 18, 2016
Pundits will debate the wellsprings of Donald Trump’s election triumph for years. Right now, cultural explanations are in the lead. Multiple researchers and journalists are stressing the role of “racial resentments” and xenophobia as the deepest sources of Trump’s appeal. And such explanations cannot be dismissed.
But the decades-long decline of U.S. manufacturing employment and the highly automated nature of the sector’s recent revitalization should also be high on the list of explanations. The former is an unmistakable source of the working-class rage that helped get Trump elected. The latter is the main reason Trump won’t be able to “make America great again” by bringing back production jobs.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602869/manufacturing-jobs-arent-coming-back/
Degradation and demoralization.
Yeah, we need a can do spirit. We used to have that in this country. Now the media celebrates getting guys into women’s bathrooms.
Trump already got Ford to stay. Apple is bringing manufacturing back to the US. He’s working on getting Carrier to stay. And he isn’t in office yet.
central planning
The government used to try and keep jobs and industry in the US. The past 30 odd years they’ve done just the opposite. Notice that in the defense industry, where it is considered dangerous if we can’t make weapons, they manage to keep the industry and jobs in the US. But keep on singing the can’t-do blues. The Democrats will be out of power for 50 years.
No they are not.
Are too.
The government used to try and keep jobs and industry in the US.
Not to mention that pretty much every other country in the world has protectionist polices which, lo and behold, seem to work for them. It’s only bad when we do it.
Colorado
You are bang on right.
You have the market and you have given away the ability to service it.
Tariffs are needed.
As for the return of manufacturing jobs, this time they will be by automation not tedious manual.
You have forfeited manual production industries and have a great chance at rebuilding them with extremely competitive automated plants.
Maybe Trump can wrest the lawnmowing, construction, and maid service job from the illegals. They probably don’t pay much different from the post-union manufacturing jobs.
As for the return of manufacturing jobs, this time they will be by automation not tedious manual.
That means that the number of jobs will be very low.
This is what Tim Cook said about American manufacturing from a 60-Minutes interview a while back:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tim-cook-apple-doesnt-make-its-products-in-china-because-its-cheaper-2015-12-20
““The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills,” Cook explained. “I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.”
Earlier in the interview, the conversation heated up just a bit when the subject turned to allegations that Apple AAPL, +0.50% is a “tax avoider” and is “engaged in a sophisticated scheme” to shelter the $74 billion in revenue parked overseas.
“That is total political crap,” Cook fired back. He said he’d “love to bring it home” but doesn’t because “it would cost me 40%… and I don’t think that’s a reasonable thing to do. This is a tax code, Charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age. It’s backwards. It’s awful for America. It should have been fixed many years ago. It’s past time to get it done.””
with extremely competitive automated plants.
that employ hardly anyone. How does that help the jobs situation, again?
automation creates wealth. wealth creates jobs. and the more wealth there is, the higher the pay has to be to entice people to work.
If Uncle Sam is going to engage in central planning, why not at least organize the effort to benefit American citizens?
His big plan: government handouts to the unemployed. Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.
“Advanced manufacturing”? “Highly automated”?
What, exactly, is advanced about Bangladeshi women and children hand-dying fabric in a RIVER for our cheap clothes?
What, exactly, is advanced about migrant workers in China living 6 to a room in filthy dormitories and “showering in groups” to make parts for our iPhones?
“Advanced manufacturing” is a HUGE myth perpetuated by big corporations, as if every third-world sweatshop they contract with is as clean and high-tech as the UK’s Mini Cooper factory, instead of the near-slavery and pollution reality.
First, watch ‘The True Cost’ on Netflix. Then, immediately after, watch James May’s ‘Building Cars Live.’ One is advanced manufacturing in first-world conditions. One is not.
Lurker
I agree with you. But this is an opportunity for the US to bring back these jobs within automated clean plants in the USA.
Huge advances are being made in automation today. Costs are and will dramatically be reduced with improved controllers which will give faster and therefore fewer robots with massively better vision and dexterity systems.
Huge clunky systems are being replaced with ultra fast tiny pick and place robotics.
Time for the US to flex it’s economic abilities.
‘this is an opportunity for the US to bring back these jobs within automated clean plants in the USA’
Good gravy, the assembly line was automation. There isn’t anything to fear from progress. We just need progress that benefits us.
William Banzai over at ZeroHedge has an amusing Boycott Amazon graphic.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-25/absolute-right-state
2015
Wall street bonuses (not regular compensation) - 28 billion dollars
Total compensation paid to every person who earned minimum wage - 14 billion
Hey Italians, next time you feel like pulling the lever for Establishment (globalist) political parties, think about what kind of country you want to leave for your progeny.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/11/25/migrants-riot-racism-allah/
Share buybacks with limitless Fed funny-money “stimulus” are not going to revive the economy.
http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-forecasts-record-rate-of-buybacks-in-2017-buybacks-forecast-2016-11
Did someone say Hillaryous is unelectable?
We did.
Iowa Electronic Market still has her winning by 30 points.
Popular vote count has her winning by 2 million. (Of course, the popular vote doesn’t count.)
The median London home price is now 14.2 X the median London salary. Seems sustainable to me….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/house-prices/house-price-affordability-london-reaches-new-low/
Wow, the sinking MSM is really flailing as they fade into irrelevance.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-25/washington-post-names-drudge-zero-hedge-anti-clinton-sophisticated-russian-propagand
That WaPo article is why I know this article below is full of beans:
http://www.i4u.com/2016/11/118064/amazon-black-friday-mobile-orders-thanksgiving-bigger-thanksgiving-and-cyber-monday-2
Don’t believe it for a second. The warehouse near me is nowhere near as active as people thought it would be and doesn’t generate all that much traffic. It’s had difficulty hiring, but that’s probably been a good thing in the end, because I don’t think the business to support it ever materialized. The warehouse in Lakeland seems to do much better, I’m guessing they’ll probably shut this one down.
Suddenly the globalists have latched onto “trolls” and “fake news” as the bugbears discrediting their policies…as if that explains all the millions of people fed up with policies that benefit only the elites at the expense of everyone else, or the proliferation of news sites run by poorly-compensated citizen bloggers and journalists who are calling BS on the MSM and The Narrative.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/11/24/video-merkel-says-trolls-fake-news-influence-german-election/
Criminals tend to accuse others of that which they themselves are doing.
Bezos has been getting a black eye for all the fraudulent and counterfeit products and bogus reviews on Amazon. In his quest to top Jack Ma, something went horribly wrong.
I’d love to be able to follow the money and see who is funding and staffing this outfit, and setting its agenda. Besides “concerned citizens.”
http://www.propornot.com/p/home.html
Same ((people)) who fund ((jill stein)) to do a recount of the couple thousand votes she got in a few key states Trump won. She’s gotten more money to do the recount that she did for her campaign, lol! The ((tribe)) really knows how to make everyone dance for the confetti they print up.
“Russian propaganda” - what a crock. Millions of people are turning to the alternative media because they see right through the lies and propaganda being fed to them by the oligarch-owned MSM.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RUSSIA_FAKE_NEWS?SITE=MYPSP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-11-25-16-06-56
Butt-Hurt Losers Demand Recount!
Paul Joseph Watson
Published on Nov 24, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-bwY-40QAY
Surprised and a bit disappointed that HBB didnt get put on the list of websites under evil russky influence. WTF, don’t we point out the naked emperor everyday? Even freaking charles hugh smith’s oftwominds made the list! Come on you msm pu55ie5, where’s the love, er, hate?
For all the political tangents we get on in here, the focus remains on the housing bubble, we have a diversity of views and opinions, and the HBB readership is probably a lot smaller than the 200 or so sites accused of spreading Russian propaganda. So we apparently don’t rate.
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell
‘Surprised and a bit disappointed that HBB didnt get put on the list’
Not me. I kinda had one eye closed when I went to the alphabet for “T”. All you Red Communists only exist here in the comments. They did name Antiwar.com. Jeebus.
Antiwar? Lol.
Starting to think this ((stein)) recall is more of an effort to find out why the ((soros)) voting machines didnt properly rig the election. Doh!
Wonder how much Soros funding has gone to this “independent team of concerned American citizens” that just happened to appear out of nowhere as Crooked Hillary and MSM were licking their wounds. Of course this “independent team” is anonymous, supposedly due to their fear of Kremlin retaliation, and have not made their “research” or methodologies available for peer review. But it’s “scientific” so it’s gotta be credible, right?
“PropOrNot is an independent team of concerned American citizens with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, including professional experience in computer science, statistics, public policy, and national security affairs. We are currently volunteering time and skills to identify propaganda - particularly Russian propaganda - targeting a U.S. audience. We collect public-record information connecting propaganda outlets to each other and their coordinators abroad, analyze what we find, act as a central repository and point of reference for related information, and organize efforts to oppose it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxL_xY0Tm2w
The YYYcampaignYYY is the crowdsourced application of “manual analysis”, which is what we call the remarkably easy-to-do process of methodically checking to see whether a particular social-media account, commenter, or outlet qualifies as Russian propaganda, and calling it out it if it does. Anyone can join this campaign, and we hope you will do so.
B…b…but this isn’t science. This is a bunch of crowdsourced SJW morons deciding if any site that publishes non-Narrative news, information, and commentary “qualifies as Russian propaganda.” So if any precious snowflakes happen to stumble into this site, they can arbitrarily complete the “remarkably easy-to-do process” of branding any politically incorrect site or posters as “Russian propaganda” and report the HBB or any other alternative-media website or independent citizen blogger to their Political Commisars at PropOrNot. Nothing creepy or Orwellian about that….
Ole’ Jill may have a ton of book learnin’, but is otherwise dumb as a box of rocks. Biggest. patsy. ever.
Personally, I’m all for her ensuring the integrity of the voting process. I’m not happy that millions of illegals and dead people voted for Crooked Hillary, but if there was reason to believe the voting machines were tampered with to deny Hillary the votes cast for her, I’d be equally upset with that. So let her challenge the results and see what we learn. If the results validate that Trump won, so be it. If, on the other hand, they confirm that Hillary was robbed of votes through fraud or manipulation, then Trump’s victory is illegitimate. And no, I won’t riot or protest if the election outcome is overturned. I’ll accept the outcome just like I did in 2008 and 2012.
I am not talking about “integrity of the vote” and neither is Stein, if you read the spurious reasons in her petition.
It’s quite possible Stein is being set up for a Gabby Giffords moment, where they take some poor loser/loner off the streets, drug him and scramble his brains and then try to pin it on “violent Trump supporters”.
Heh. The original developer sold off the warehouse this past spring to a REIT, got a good price for it, apparently. Way to go! Must’ve seen the handwriting on the wall.
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2016/06/23/amazon-warehouse-in-ruskin-fetches-massive-sales.html
The bulk of the value creation in a development like this comes from building and leasing the asset. At that point, you are hoping that rents rise, or cap rates go down…even if cap rates are stagnant, you are looking at a single-digit return from that point forward.
The equity behind these developments want an overall mid-teens return, minimum, so waiting after the lease-up works against the return.
In other words, don’t read too much into the decision to sell…it’s highly likely the decision to sell is completely independent of the owner’s view of the market.
They sold because they got a good price, apparently, and I would have done the same, under the circumstances. I’m sure having Amazon as a tenant was part of the value.
Now, if Amazon folds up the tent at that location, they’d have to get another tenant or tenants and I really don’t know what the leasing market would be for that building in this particular location.
As has been posted here before, stop giving them your money.
I told my 88 year old aunt yesterday to stop watching CNN and to cancel cable and her New York Times subscription if she’s tired of them telling her how racist she is all day every day.
It’s so easy, just turn it off, and stop paying them.
But…but…half their anchors and Real Journalists have British accents. That makes them seem more authoritative to the rubes as they disseminate The Narrative.
To be fair, I do have rather a fondness for the British accents of Paul Joseph Watson and Nigel Farage.
They’re globalists - sticking their noses into another’s country’s politics.
Nigel is coming home to the US.
It’s so easy, just turn it off, and stop paying them.
But then you might fall into the snares of all those cunning, wily Russian propaganda mouthpieces. Nope, better to stay with the MSM. ‘Cause they have editors and stuff.
crushing.housing.losses.
This is the best I could do for you scdave.
Comment by scdave
2016-11-25 12:05:32
Your just a internet punk Phony…Hollow core…
A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPP-tHdA
We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels ‘cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
Old Phonys Hollow core
The room was humming harder
Donald Trump is on his way
Then we called out for another drink
Gee I wish Obama’d stay
And so it was that later
As palmetto told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said, ‘There is no reason
And the truth is plain to see.’
But I wandered through the internet
And could not let them see
One of those two swollen ankles
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might have just as well’ve been closed
And so it was that later
As palmetto told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
Aw, geez, man, thanks for the dishonorable mention.
Why do the cucks hate us so?
The Subhumans closed their set here in 2012 with this song Religious Wars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFFDpvk_fEM
Well for $80k you can run ‘em over like zombies:
“2017 Toyota Tundra - USED”
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2017-Toyota-Tundra-/322326533678
Around the holidays I sometimes like to play the Charlie Brown piano music Christmas album. All the instrumental tracks are really good, and it’s family friendly music. Good vibes for everyone. They have the entire album on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fh133ZO1AE&list=PL0z5a235GY1awuZeBQBO6ZWQfg95Gkg5N
On first reading I thought that you were playing the piano music on a piano. If so, props to you. The sheet music is not as easy as it first sounds. The rhythm to “Linus and Lucy” is very difficult.
Oh, lol, sorry for confusion in my phrasing — I don’t play piano at all. But if I did play piano, that would be a good one to learn!
lol
Weirdly,no chatter in the dc area ‘re trump and cuts. Real estate prices have been flat. A rif and down they go.
Retail is toast as tapped-out consumers retrench.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/11/25/black-friday-woes-when-the-death-of-department-stores-began-and-where-were-today/
Bethesda, MD Housing Prices Crater 5% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/bethesda-md/home-values/
Trump Wins: Massive SJW Triggering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xSk_WpT6SM
“This was a big FU to the establishment.”
It would take a heart of stone to watch the distraught special snowflakes pour out their anguish, and not laugh out loud.
Hysterical SJW’s React To Donald Trump Presidency
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyIqc3zuIZA
“I expected a landslide…I’m gonna go drink myself to sleep.”
I did notice on election night a real drinking theme among the losers. Are all Hillary supporters alcoholics like her?
Yuck. Yer killin’ me with this stuff, Ben.
You gotta see 4:05.
[SJW MELTDOWNS] Reaction To Donald Trump Victory (Ft. Laci Green)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7qVszirpb8
Great laugh.
Check out the guy at 8:55. Post a rant while drunk laying on your side.
We’ve all done that at one time or another, haven’t we?
At 11:15: “His wife doesn’t even speak English.”
12:21 “No man, it was supposed to be close, man!” Rolling on a filthy floor.
The laughing guy is Henry Davis. Here he does a takeoff on the butthurt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl5efai8_yg
“Post a rant while drunk laying on your side.”
He looks like he’s doing something else while laying on his side.
I can’t believe the crowd at her pity party. Where were all those people when she had “rallies”?
6:44 “At least I will go down as a real president”
I know where I’d like to stick that phone he threw.
The best SJW Meltdown compilation YOU’LL EVER SEE after donald trump won [Delicious Liberal Tears]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey10KH_RF9o
9:05
“If you support Donald Trump, you’re a F-ing Nazi.”
[Delicious Liberal Tears]
trump salt mining.
“I feel like…I’m f-ging better than you. Much better than you. You are garbage. You can call me a social justice warrior. I don’t give a shit. That’s who I am.”
In light of all that has gone on these days, and the exposure of our plot by the Washington Post, I feel the need to let you all know that I am a Russian troll sent here to throw the election.
Здравствуйте
Now that we have won our objective, it’s time for you bitchez to start learning your new mother tongue.
Lesson 1: How to say “Hello” in Russian
‘The laughing guy is Henry Davis’
That’s some great stuff.
11:11 “Him and his wife does not look like presidential material,” says the naked, tattooed guy on youtube.
Not as funny, but leaked footage of the aftermath of Weinergate. The second one is the best. Check out some of the twisted people in that staff meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gpP67ic-2U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNcJ9KfPlUU
Trump Enragement. Housing Enragement.
https://youtu.be/_TZwioNwL_Y
Keep up my good friends. Keep up.
http://i.imgur.com/DzZH8.gif
At 1:25 of the top video was that an anti rage spray or a Flaka antidote?
How ironic that the Washington Post is branding 200 popular alternative media sites as disseminators of Russian propaganda, when mainstream media flagships like the NYT have a long and sordid history of being Soviet apologists and whitewashing communist crimes.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/pulitzer-winning-lies/article/4040
Jill Stein raises $4.8 million in just over 24 hours for a recount after raising $3 million for her entire campaign.
Goodbye Fidel
I can hear them celebrating in Miami all the way up here in Tampa.
Will the same distraught SJWs who posted their meldowns about Trump winning the elections be back to wail out their pain and grief for Fidel’s passing?
Look at the bovine stupidity on the faces of the debt donkeys.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3969792/Black-Friday-sales-underway-stores-country.html
The oligarchy’s plunder of the 99% continues apace.
http://www.businessinsider.com/credit-suisse-wealth-report-shows-rise-of-chinese-and-us-billionaires-2016-11
The Comrades of Proven Worth (D) who run our NEA indoctrination mills are going to make sure they get theirs even if they bankrupt every state and municipality they infest.
http://nypost.com/2016/11/24/how-teachers-unions-drive-jerseys-pension-crisis/
Hope n’ change.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-25/marc-hanson-houses-have-never-been-more-expensive-buyers-who-need-mortgage
Just move to Florida, they are giving away houses for free.
Apparently being singled out by the WaPo as a Russian propaganda outlet or “useful idiots” is good for your page views. Ben, can you appeal being left off the list?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-25/lone-blogger-rages-against-washington-posts-russian-hit-list
“a fool and his money are soon parted.”