From Reuters:
US home prices to eke out small June gain
U.S. home prices likely eked out a small gain in June, but a rise would represent the final tail-winds of the homebuyer tax credit that ended in April rather than housing market improvement, economists said.
Sales have failed to sustain traction in the wake of the federal incentive that drew summer sales forward into spring months.
Tepid home buying despite record low mortgage rates, combined with the high hurdle of foreclosure sales, will keep weighing on home prices.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index likely rose 0.2 percent in June after a 0.5 percent increase in May, seasonally adjusted, according to a Reuters survey of 18 economists.
Forecasts ranged from a 0.6 percent drop to a 0.5 percent rise.
…
If prices are flat or higher in June, based on the S&P/Case-Shiller series, it would likely be because the indexes are based on three-month moving averages and may be slower to adjust, several Wall Street firms noted.
From Bloomberg:
Home Prices Probably Cooled, U.S. Consumer Sentiment Languished
The rebound in U.S. home prices probably slowed, while consumer confidence languished near a five-month low, indicating threats to the economic recovery are mounting, economists said before reports toda
…
Record foreclosures, unemployment near a 26-year high and a plunge in sales following the end of a government tax credit will probably pressure home values in coming months. Further erosion in home equity may undermine Americans’ confidence and limit consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.“The housing market is in the midst of a double dip, with sales declining and prices likely to,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia. “Consumers are in a state of repairing their balance sheets. It would be fairly problematic for consumer spending if there was another home-price decline.”
The home-price data from S&P/Case-Shiller are due at 9 a.m. New York time. Estimates ranged from increases of 2.5 percent to 4.2 percent. It would be the first time the measure failed to improve since a 19 percent drop in the year ended January 2009, which was the worst performance in records dating to 2001.
From Seeking Alpha:
More Pain, Less Gain: S&P/Case-Shiller Preview
As I demonstrated in prior posts, given their strong correlation, the home price indices provided daily by Radar Logic, averaged monthly, can effectively be used as a preview of the monthly S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices.
The current Radar Logic 25 MSA Composite data reported on residential real estate transactions (condos, multi and single family homes) that settled as late as June 25 indicates that the final expiration of the government’s tax gimmick drove a second, albiet more tepid, price bounce with prices increasing slightly since May but remaining below the tax credit fueled peak reached last year.
Look for tomorrow’s S&P/Case-Shiller home price report to reflect an increase of prices as the source data moves further through months affected by the tax credit activity.
From CNBC:
Economy Needs Another Big Stimulus Push: Krugman
The US economy needs another government stimulus program as big as the one President Obama pushed through Congress in February 2009, economist Paul Krugman said on CNBC Monday.
“Everything is pointing to the need for more spending,” Krugman said. “The economy remains depressed.”
Such a massive new spending program is unlikely to be proposed soon, however, especially with the mid-term elections approaching.
Krugman said the effects of the stimulus dollars on the economy are fading out, with the maximum impact on growth in the final quarter of 2009.
The money could immediately be spent on infrastructure needs throughout the country that are not being met.
“Even aside from the need to stimulate the economy, when the federal government can borrow very cheaply, that’s probably a good idea to get some projects started,” added Krugman, a Nobel-prize winning economist who is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.
Nikkei down almost 4%
Whats in store for Dow today!!!
From the Daily Record:
Property tax increase not surprising
It really should surprise no one that property taxes in New Jersey are still going up — an average of 3.3 percent this year statewide. More in some towns, less in others.
“Wait a minute,” some may yell in unison from Wildwood to Whippany. “Chris Christie says he’s trying to cut property taxes.”
Japan Confirms Meeting Central Banker Zhou Amid Speculation He Left China
Chinese worried about losses on US treasuries !!!!
SG (4)-
The speculation yesterday was that Zhou’s losses were on Phony/Fraudy paper.
There is something that pleases me about the idea we caused China to lose 430 bn on garbage agency paper.
Or, maybe I’m just comforted by the fact that there are other people in the world as stupid as we are.
Will Snooki get married? BF proposes on magazine cover.
It is now the end of days.
IMF Eliminates Borrowing Cap On Rescue Facility In Anticipation Of Europe Crisis 2.0; US Prepares To Print Fresh Trillions In “Rescue” Linen
“The enhancements approved today by the Executive Board include:
•Doubling the duration of the credit line (FCL arrangements can now be approved for either one year, or two years with an interim review of qualification after one year, whereas they were previously either for six months, or one year with an interim review after six months);
•Removing the implicit cap on access of 1000 percent of a member’s IMF quota, with access decisions based on individual country financing needs; and
•Strengthening procedures by requiring early Executive Board involvement in assessing the contemplated level of access and the impact of such access on the IMF’s liquidity position.”
SDR’s will fail.
al (8)-
SDR’s might fail, but it’s comforting to know I can use them at the post office.
7. Gawd help us all. And bless Tiny Tim.
Re #1
Obama will hold off on anymore stimulus spending until
it gets closer to his re-election bid. That way any “bump”
to the economy will be directly connected to his wonderful
leadership. (Sarcasm off)
Elections don’t matter anymore. Just choosing between Humpty and Dumpty.
Time to start refreshing the tree.
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Bernankes-blind-spot-pd20100830-8T8HE?OpenDocument&src=sph
“Bernanke’s Blind Spot” – Steve Keen
Private debt DOES matter.
DoJ Terrorism and Criminal Extremism Terms and Concepts Guide
According to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, here are some terms “criminal justice professionals” are likely to encounter during terrorism and extremism investigations. These terms below are intermingled with all of the Nazi and international terrorist groups.
Precious metals are big trouble. Man, you’re a nutcase several different ways if you’re into gold and silver. The U.S. Constitution is another topic that lots of terrorists and extremists are into *sigh*:
http://cryptogon.com/?p=17346
Bunch of gold radicals on this website.
http://pragcap.com/the-deteriorating-macro-picture
Said another way by TPC – “As the consumer balance sheet imploded, the economy imploded with it.”
#7 – Will Snooki get married? BF proposes on magazine cover.i
It is now the end of days.
#7 – Will Snooki get married? BF proposes on magazine cover.
It is now the end of days.
Increasingly, the culture makes me feel like I’ve never left high school. Or never been allowed to leave.
arrgh, too early.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575462231157581078.html
Something on Ambac – Chicago and JJ
In these troubled times Americans need celebrities like Snooki to look up to.
#20 – In these troubled times Americans need celebrities like Snooki to look up to.
In order to do that she would have to be upright at least most of the time.
I read yesterday that they might have to shut down the entire Jersey Shore show as some gal who got roughed up by their bodyguards filed a civil Rico case against the production company.
Isn’t The Situation’s real name Rico?
“Consumers are in a state of repairing their balance sheets.”
We’ve been claiming this for awhile. This is not an inventory related recession, it’s a balance sheet depression. Don’t know why consumers can’t mark to a model.
Got demand?
I think I should be able to value my home at what it will be worth in forty years, then extract 100% of that anticipated equity and put it into lottery tickets.
And, I expect Steve Lies-man to be able to go on CNBC and justify my actions.
Doom [25],
Better yet, take that value, lever 30x and pay yourself a bonus.
I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
US Soccer re-ups Bob Bradley for four more years.
Must…get…to…Chile…
Maybe the hurricane will level Atlantic City. Just saying.
In four years, my son will be 17. If he has any chance of playing high-level soccer, he can invoke his Israeli citizenship.
sx (30)-
Maybe it can level Wall St.
Europe collectively down only 1% on average…
Dow- will magically float over 10K even if its by a razor edge.
sl
Grim (1):
Gotta hand it to Krugman. He sticks to his guns. Must be nice to sit in an ivory tower down in Princeton and think of these things. He has no worries whatsoever. He gets paid to teach maybe 1 course a semester and lives off his Nobel Prize buzz for the rest of his life.
Soon, the jackals will be ripping Krugman apart.
LBMA & Crimex failure-to-deliver…coming soon.
Get out of paper gold and silver.
Gotta hand it to Krugman. He sticks to his guns. Must be nice to sit in an ivory tower down in Princeton and think of these things. He has no worries whatsoever. He gets paid to teach maybe 1 course a semester and lives off his Nobel Prize buzz for the rest of his life.
It’s pretty funny to look up his reviews on ratemyprofessor. Based on most of them, you get the impression that he was a really bad teacher.
PBOC on full-court press to prove Zhou isn’t either maggot food or a fugitive:
http://www.pbc.gov.cn/detail.asp?col=100&id=3767
DOom (39):
Of course the easiest way would be to put the guy on TV and have him say that he is alive and well and that rumours regarding his demise are greatly exaggerated. Hard to do when you either committed suicide by shooting yourself twice in the back of the head or hanging out somewhere in South America.
Maybe Zhou is hanging out in Chile with his pals from SQM.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/08/lawler-hud-secretary-may-have-just-made.html
On Donovan’s comments last W/E..
“…the administration should have Donovan or another HUD spokesperson explicitly state that there is no plan to revive the home buyer tax credit in the foreseeable future – and they should so it SOON!!!”
Will Snooki get married? BF proposes on magazine cover.
It is now the end of days.
It’s a financial play by Snooki’s BF. I’m sure the kid has no money at all and Snooki is dumb enough to say yes without signing a prenup.
Obama will hold off on anymore stimulus spending until
it gets closer to his re-election bid.
My guess is that he proposes new stimulus spending at special groups (clean energy, big labor ect.), knowing the republicans won’t pass anything, in order to shore up his base and paint the republicans as cold hearted and unreasonable.
doom: are you getting paid by the fcuking post today?
C: too late; I already got the pole up the yin-yang; luckily I made a bet with a guy that won’t show to collect…..
Cindy says:
August 31, 2010 at 7:48 am
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575462231157581078.html
Something on Ambac – Chicago and JJ
This hurricane is Earl…next one is Fiona….can we advocate for the next tropical system to be named Grim?
Leftwing
I think the stumbling block, regardless of whether it was intentional or not, was the loss of personal responsibility and the abandoment of the “melting pot” philosophy. As long as we held onto the “melting pot” philosophy, we as a nation were homogeneous in our nationality. Regardless of where you were from you were now American. Such is not the case anymore and as a result the associated “national” homogeneity has been lost.
On top of that, the greater the individual freedom the greater the personal responsibility that one must bear in order to maintain those freedoms without self destructing. The concept of personal responsibility died a long slow death starting in the late 60’s.
-steps off of soapbox
Krugman, Gore, Obama…evidence of the dumbing down and over politicizing of the Nobel Prize.
MSM looking to short Gold Lookout!
Gold Rallying to $1,500 as Soros’s Bubble Inflates
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-30/gold-rallying-to-1-500-for-analysts-as-soros-s-bubble-inflates.html
“Social norms in countries where populations are 95% alike can inhibit behaviors that lead to self destructive individual and government actions.”
Sucks to be the 5% in such a place. In NJ, people are very rude, but they are equally rude to everyone. To me, that is a big plus.
Hyde, we’re on the same page.
Posted this morning on yesterday’s board:
I don’t disagree other places have their problems and that graft has existed as long as human interaction.
On departure I select a more homogenous nation. Lived in both Austria or Switzerland, could head back easily. Social norms in countries where populations are 95% alike can inhibit behaviors that lead to self destructive individual and government actions. It does come at a cost to certain individual ‘freedoms’. Once the final nail is in the coffin here hindsight will reveal that the expansion of individual ‘freedoms’ that subsequently became ensconced into ‘rights’ was a large part of the downfall.
Also, these nations are rather straightforward in the social contract with their peoples. You can like it, or not, but you can reasonably evaluate if the terms are suitable for you. The social contract that used to be the United Stated has been shredded. For most of last century we have lurched from one carnival barker to another while their partners have worked the crowd picking our pockets during the show.
The bottom line is becoming clearer and more simple. The huge advantage the United States held over other countries for its citizens in basic and tangible aspects of life (e.g. financial opportunity and security) no longer exists. Many of the intangible advantages (personal freedom, diversity) either have become liabilities as they have been taken to an illogical extreme or they were chimera to begin with. If I want great Italian food or paella I’ll cross the Alps or Pyrenees on a day trip.
It’s kind of sad on one hand but uplifting on another. I’ll take great memories of the emotion and pride that the concept of America held. Growing up in a Rockwell-esque small town where leading the 4th of July parade as flag bearer was a big deal it is hard not to. On the other hand, it took a lot of guts for my forebears five generations ago to pick up from a not uncomfortable and very familiar existence because they saw the writing on the wall and a place with a better opportunity for their offspring across the ocean. I’d be letting them down if I don’t seriously consider the same when confronted with the same set of facts.
Obama isn’t putting through another stimulus package because it would result in doom for the Democrats come election day. The results of the Stimulus 1.0 have been pathetic and the passing of the bill was very unpopular. Obama won’t pass anything until election day.
Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke refuses to embark on QE 2.0 until election day as well. I’m sure he has a sour taste in his mouth from the attempted audits of the Federal Reserve by congress. He knows QE can jack up the stock market and increase the likelihood of reelection for the Dem controlled House/Senate. Instead, I believe he’ll hold back to send a message that he truly controls the fate of determining whether or not politicians get reelected. Translation: “Don’t try to audit my backdoor bailouts again if you want to be in office next year”.
The question is, will QE 2.0 also include some sort of provision to hide a “failure to deliver” event in the bullion market. If a “failure to deliver” event occured while Bergabe is trying to run QE 2.0 his efforts could be promptly vaporized.
“If a “failure to deliver” event occured while Bergabe is trying to run QE 2.0 his efforts could be promptly vaporized.”
I doubt it. In fact, defaults in the metals market, ala 1933 & 1971 are the catalysts for excessive monetary creation.
2 comments:
(1) was at Luger’s on Sunday when a hipster group of early 30-somethings straight out of Billyburg waltzes in. Then I look at one guy and I think “some clown doing a Mick Jagger” impersonation. He takes off his sun glasses and flat-out he is a dead ringer for Jagger at about 35 years old. I turned to the guy next to me and said “it must be his son”.
(2) One the heels of dropping $300 at Luger’s, I am at Point yesterday so my son can try the rides at Jenkinson’s. I walk into some junky little ice cream shop and order a small ice cream and a 20 oz Pepsi. The 20 yo biach behind the counter says $7.22. I assume she miscounted, but she didn’t. I actually said to her that it is so expensive that it is a joke. He attitude was FU. Honestly, I have no pity now for the Boardwalk businesses that cry poor when it is a rainy summer. They deserve nothing. It isn’t the price that annoyed me, it is that they served gruel…..just plain old garbage and charged not just a premium, but an insulting price. $3.25 is more expensive than Central Park. In fact, the only place I’ve seen more expensive is Yankee Stadium/Citifield. Its not balls, its hubris…..
$3.25 for the soda
Re [1];
“Everything is pointing to the need for more spending,” Krugman said.
When has Krugman seen indicators point to anything BUT more spending? How unique to inhabit a world where fiat money is simply willed into existance from thin air at a whim, having no relationship to the value of goods and services produced. Got inflation?
My only kudos to Krugman is that he was the only economic commentator of any notoriety willing to call the housing bubble a bubble, even then only at the peak, but still before it came crashing down around everyone’s ears. The problem is his solution to everything (spendspendspend) is too far divorced from reality. Throw on top his sychophantic political hack bona fides, and its just too much to swallow.
Ben
the paper metals market is 100x the available bullion. A failure to deliver event if recognized bybthe market would crush paper metals. That is a lot of “wealth” that disappears overnight and could cause ripples of loss of faith in paper assets that could hit the overall market hard.
Just my guess
Doom, Re your comments to “November is the last chance for this country”.
I don’t expect reasonable arguments from you. Calls for violence, racist rants and ad hominem are what makes you Doom.
Do you think the country is on sustanable path that can be continued? Previous administrations have wasted billions and didn’t bother to contain spending. (Bush tried to do something with SS, but hate and demagogues from the Left stopped that short. On the other hand, I’m first to admit that his Presciption Drugs bill and increase in Dept of Education spending were fiscal disasters for the country).
Anyway, this administration is outright marxist, and hell-bent on spending trillions for their leftists causes. This cannot continue long. Now they are dreaming about mass-amnesty (which has already started via change in enforcement policy, ie most detained illegals have been ordered to be released) an the resulting permanent majority ie parasite society voting for the Dems.
They might succeed in this after the Nov elections. Now Obama admin is already planning Next Stimulus (in addition to various wealth transfer programs) . Few trillions here and there and pretty soon we are talking about real money.
How do you think the country can save itself? Voting for the trillion-dollar spending Left? So called business-as-usual centrists dems/republicans? The only group of people who have shown they are serious about cutting spending are the people known loosely as tea parties (e.g. Gov Christie, Rubio in FL etc). They have already knocked down several incumbent GOP senators who were happy to continue spending. If the wave happens as predicted, the country can still be saved, e.g.:
– trillion-dollar bailouts and handouts can be prevented
– earmarks can be stopped
– mass-amnesty and the resulting permanent parasitic welfare society can be prevented
– soon, tea parties can force spending cuts.
It may be too late after November.
Just one simple idea: Get rid of the Dept of Education. $100B annual budget and $100B Stimulus funding. Education belongs to the states anyway and occasional national initiative can be run by Presidential appointee as funded by Congress. The list goes on and on. Government bureaucracy is like cancer. If left alone, it will grow until it kills the host.
the paper metals market is 100x the available bullion. A failure to deliver event if recognized bybthe market would crush paper metals. That is a lot of “wealth” that disappears overnight and could cause ripples of loss of faith in paper assets that could hit the overall market hard.
You aren’t going to get a dispute from me on that. But somehow, the idea that money printing machine stops on that event is a pipe dream. That’s when it goes into overdrive.
I want the job on Money.cnn.com of the person who gets to say:
– at 930 am (Dow down 40 points), “Stocks down as fear returns”
-1t 1055 am (Down up 25 points), “Stocks bounce back on consumer optimism”
I only check the site to see the indexes, but I can’t help to take a peak at the first bullet point. It is really pathetic.
Krugman is as old & tired as a corpse.
SAS
Maybe if I learned how to spell, I’d have a better chance at landing that job.
so Clot..
when does the food rationing start in order to support the military?
and when we going to invest in lice remedies?
lol..ha ha..bloke
:)
SAS
and another thing…
the gulf spill ain’t plugged, Ken Lay is still alive, and troops are still in Iraq (they just changed the definition of a “troop”).
don’t be a sap.
SAS
SAS
What foreign nation have you been lurking about in?
My only kudos to Krugman is that he was the only economic commentator of any notoriety willing to call the housing bubble a bubble, even then only at the peak, but still before it came crashing down around everyone’s ears. The problem is his solution to everything (spendspendspend) is too far divorced from reality. Throw on top his sychophantic political hack bona fides, and its just too much to swallow.
Krugman waited until Robert Shiller’s housing charges peaked and turned down to start sounding the alarm. Same thing with Roubini. In fact, the only thing Roubini is good at doing is plagiarizing Nassim Taleb. The only Keynesians who get credit for identifying the bubble in its earlier stages are Robert Shiller and Dean Baker.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/the-run-up-in-home-prices-is-it-real-or-is-it-another-bubble
Even then, they simply identified it by looking at a long term chart of prices. Lets face it, a lot of the people on this blog alone are more forward looking and keen to the market than these economists.
On the other hand, we have economists who are keenly aware of the mechanism of bubble creation and ultimate bust. His name was Hans Sennholz.
http://mises.org/daily/588
n. The Fed and nearly all other central banks, they assert, have become “Keynesians” who may not believe in Keynesian doctrines, but they do not know what else to do. As long as the consumer price index does not move up sharply, they will expand their credit. But it is unlikely that they will succeed in reflating the old tech bubble; instead, they may create new bubbles, which will be in weapons and raw materials, such as oil, natural gas, platinum, palladium, and even copper.
A real “credit crunch” is threatening on the horizon, which would gravely encumber the American economy.
Congressman Ron Paul, a keen observer of the Washington scene, points to glaring examples of the credit bubble waiting to be pricked. The government-sponsored financial institutions Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) show $33 billion of shareholder equities with $1.07 trillion worth of loans. Similarly, commercial debt barely amounted to $50 billion in 1994; today it is ten times higher, exceeding $551 billion. When the bubble bursts because of debt default, the economy is bound to flounder, no matter how the Fed may attempt to prevent it.
http://mises.org/daily/1089
The real estate bubble is bound to burst as soon as the distortions become visible to ever greater numbers of participants.
Lets see, this was all called in 2001-2002 by Hans Sennholz, Ludwig Mises’ protege. Fast forward to 2008.
failure of the reinflating of the tech bubble – check
oil bubble – check
platinum bubble -check
palladium bubble – check
real estate bubble – check
Failure of Fannie/Freddie – check
It’s laughable that such dead on predictions which were years ahead of anyone else go unnoticed and are still labeled as ideological.
Prima facie evidence that SNL sucks c-ock ever since 1981 with the exception of some really good years in the 90’s……
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHaA4RePosY
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/08/30/hatch-mosque-support/
Never thought I’d see chips falling this way…
Bloomberg ++
Hatch +
Reid –
Dean –
Weiner —
50.
“Gold Rallying to $1,500 as Soros’s Bubble Inflates”
1500 is just a bump in the road. I bet my entire lifes savings on it.
Silver exploding again. Man I love this sh_t. More pain, more doom. We need more apocalyptic talk.
Al Gore says:
August 30, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Look at this _sshole Kenyan trying to play off the teleprompter failure as a sound issue. We are so f_cked with this assclown puppet in there.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/08/30/obama_hit_with_technical_difficulities_while_bashing_bush.html
Damn Al, you are one angry bloke
72.
“Damn Al, you are one angry bloke”
Nah, just a little anxious to watch it all come crumbling down and call a Kenyan a Kenyan or a war criminal a war criminal along the way.
These guys are angry. Im a pussy cat.
“At least eight people were killed when Molotov cocktails were thrown into a bar in the Mexican town of Cancun, a resort area popular with U.S. tourists, officials said Tuesday…..”
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/31/killed-cancun-bar-attack/
“At least eight people were killed when Molotov cocktails were thrown into a bar in the Mexican town of Cancun, a resort area popular with U.S. tourists, officials said Tuesday.”
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/31/killed-cancun-bar-attack/
Sounds like we live next to Somalia.
hyde (59)-
The biggest loss of faith would be in GS and JPM, the two biggest bullion bankers. At that point, we would get simultaneous bank runs, currency collapse, a UST explosion, declaration of force majeure across a variety of assets and commodities and martial law. LBMA would shut down (meaning game over for Europe), and the continent would descend into 24/7 street violence.
Within a couple of weeks, the yuan would become the reserve currency of the planet (SDRs having immediately collapsed), effectively rendering the rest of the world without a usable paper currency.
This is the scenario I envision.
AG [71],
Gold does all the dirty work, silver rides the shiny horse. We will witness Nelson Bunker and William Herbert 2.0.
Yikes,
Yeah, Im in a bad mood. Might as well bash some teachers.
“If you think that there are exceptions within the public sector unions that are above criticism you are wrong. Teachers like to cling to the myth that they are essential and sacrifice to educate the children. By any objective and empirical standards the results of their social engineering and indoctrination is an underclass of illiterate and brain dead idiots. Government schools are tombs for zombie reproduction. NJ Governor Chris Christie is spot on in his assessment of the Teachers Union video.
It is beyond common sense and pragmatic necessity to sit back and allow the “dumbing down” of America by a system that rewards failure and steals tax dollars to pay the Teacher Unions blackmail. If you think reform is possible, forget it. ”
Christie bashes teachers union.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLGDE4FnqSw&feature=player_embedded#!
jamil (60)-
How can you call me racist, when I hate people for only religious reasons?
BC (74)-
It might also be said that once upon a time, Willy Wonka cornered the chocolate market.
Sastry
All the respect in the world to you. I have learned from personal experience that I have no idea of a someone’s situation until proverbially walking the mile in their shoes.
But…you and I have very differently wired DNA.
Yesterday I posted how my upper middle class, financially secure buddy received a $100k windfall in the form of an unsolicited principal reduction on one of his homes by a bank that was behind its quota on mortgage mods. Unsolicited. $100k. To a long term well employed guy with a strong balance sheet. Who lives (above water) in one of the wealthiest towns in one of the wealthiest counties in America.
You saw no problem with that – “folks that are the right place at the right time are lucky. Probably one shouldn’t read too much into it.”
Without a discussion of the merits and success rate of programs targeted to the saving the 5% outliers, when do you stop breaking all those eggs trying to make that omelette?
I mean this guy is my friend and I can’t tell you how conflicted I am about his windfall. It is just flat out wrong that someone’s money (ie. their time at work, their life) is being taken and given to him. There’s going to be a bunch of guys over at his tomorrow night, collectively liquid to the tune of $10m+, throwing a party celebrating the proceeds. All originating from some redistributionist goal run amok.
Doesn’t it bother you in the least that some ‘parts of the system that break’ are so broken? That some entity proven so incompetent over time – despite its intentions – takes the fruits of your labors away from your family and gives them to someone else it deems more worthy? Whether it’s my buddy or AIG?
What little luxuries have you foregone recently? A Justin Bieber concert your daughter wanted so badly? A new high end bat for your son? To get home earlier from work one night to see your wife? Because of a direct transfer from your paycheck to my buddy’s brokerage account you can’t have these.
Foregoing any of the above is not a huge choice in the grand scheme of things, but shouldn’t it be YOUR choice, not the government’s choice? Doesn’t that bother you in the least? No?
left (78)-
Some piggies are more equal than others.
leftwing, 78
This is nothing more than mandated triage.
Loan in the shitter? (Dead person?) Do nothing – leave ’em dead.
Mortgage current, secure job. ie Alive and probably will make it with some help. (Lightly wounded?) Help them – get them transported to safety.
Doing well, ie nearly paid off mortgage (Alive and able to help themselves?) Do nothing. They can walk to safety.
All with *your* taxpaying dollars….
sl
Clot
The down-the-rabbithole moment is that he did nothing to be selected except breathe. An unsolicited letter arrived in the mail and he thought it a scam. Took him a couple of weeks of diligence, including his brother who lives in the state in question actually going to the originating branch with an attorney, to convince himself it was real.
The branch manager told his brother it was the second such visit that day by someone selected…..
I’ve resolved to never throw away another piece of junk looking mail from a financial institution without opening it.
#80
I agree. 40% of the mortgage modification they tried to help ended up defaulting.Dead on arrival,why try to revive.Pick the one that is in good standing and keep it that way. I disagree wth the policy of ,you have to be 3 months behind to get help.
Swissie in the process of destroying Europe right now. Gotta think Hungary, Romania are about to do a sovereign puke.
Anyone milking the edumucation bubble with me.
STRA, CPLA and EDMC are having one heck of a month.
Our wonderful NJ Legislature drives another nail into the coffin for Big Business in NJ, by trying to reverse globalization and productivity.
snip
state legislation that seeks to discourage New Jersey businesses from “outsourcing” jobs to other countries in order to protect jobs on American soil, according to a press release.
Under the bill, businesses that cut jobs performed by employees in the U.S. and reassign them to workers abroad would no longer be eligible to perform state contracts or to receive state grants. The state would also be prohibited from investing in the securities of outsourcing businesses.
http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/08/hoboken_assemblyman_ramos_endo.html
#78… I don’t believe that there is a major conspiracy involved. The bank did something stupid/wrong. You want to start a crusade based on that?
Juice 85,
that is not even the tip of the iceberg. Wait until that goes mainstream!
Clot, I wonder how it would be if you ever decide to settle in Switzerland — will you be filled with impotent rage against anti-semites, but still find common ground on anti-Islam? Mixed feelings?
Chile had a real dictator, you know… Not the Obama type, liberal “dictatorship”.
Leftwing, don’t out your friend. He hasn’t done anything wrong. Some pretend-bimbo at Faux may start hounding him to make a political point.
Open wine with a shoe……anyone? true or shite?
http://www.wimp.com/wineshoe
the HOLC’s strategy of buying out existing mortgages and replacing them with new ones based, not on the typical short-term mortgage agreement of the time (usually a non-amortized loan of seven to ten years terminating with a balloon payment), but rather on the far more affordable amortized mortgage of between twenty-five and thirty years, would eventually become standard practice and help revolutionize the mortgage industry. The HOLC obtained its financing by borrowing from the Treasury and from capital markets, and by the time it had closed its books in the early 1950s, it had turned a small profit.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-holc-2010-8#ixzz0yD2wOrJs
76 Clotpoll: “How can you call me racist, when I hate people for only religious reasons?”
Sorry, I did not know you are Doom.
My bad: You are just a bigot, not necessarily racist.
Guess I have been reading too much State Media – playing race card is getting automatic!
sastry: For the most part I generally steer clear of the political diatribes here. However, your attitude speaks to troubling perception that the “hose” has an unlimited amount of water pressure with the thought that diverting water by punching holes has no effect. Further that there is a finite amount of water, so more for me and less for you.
As has been repeated forever here, diverting the water pressure by tapping the hose has the deleterious impact of lowering the pressure generally, but even worse, may also likely begin to dry up the source well…………..do you get it?
Would have this saved Rising Foreclosures?
Mrs Clinton during the campaign
…I’ve proposed a new Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), to launch a national effort to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. The original HOLC, launched in 1933, bought mortgages from failed banks and modified the terms so families could make affordable payments while keeping their homes. The original HOLC returned a profit to the Treasury and saved one million homes. We can save roughly three times that many today. We should also put in place a temporary moratorium on foreclosures and freeze rate hikes in adjustable-rate mortgages. We’ve got to stem the tide of failing mortgages and give the markets time to recover.
The time for ideological, partisan arguments against these actions is over. For years, the calls to provide borrowers an affordable opportunity to avoid foreclosure as a means of preventing wider turmoil were dismissed as government intrusion into the private marketplace. My proposals over the past two years were derided as too much, too soon. Now we are forced to reckon with too little, too late.
As a result, the home-mortgage crisis slowly eroded the value of debt instruments upon which Wall Street firms were depending. That is how this house of borrowed cards began to fall. If we do not take action to address the crisis facing borrowers, we’ll never solve the crisis facing lenders. These problems go hand in hand. And if we are going to take on the mortgage debt of storied Wall Street giants, we ought to extend the same help to struggling, middle-class families.
Second, American taxpayers should have a voice and a stake in the resolution of this market crisis. If the Treasury proposal is enacted in its current form, the American government would assume enough financial risk to become the majority shareholder in the companies rescued by taxpayer dollars.
The American people are bearing the risk and therefore deserve to reap the rewards of a shared equity model. And mortgage securities bought by taxpayers must be valued accurately at prices disclosed in real time, with checks and reporting requirements to prevent abuse.
Third, taxpayers are being asked to bear an unparalleled degree of financial risk. We cannot allow taxpayers to take on this burden so that Wall Street and the Bush administration can hit the “reset button.” This historic intervention demands a historic shift in priorities: an end to the broken culture on Wall Street, and the broken economic policies in Washington.
Corporations that will benefit must be held accountable, not only to large shareholders but also to the American people, who are rightly tired of business as usual: short-term profit at the expense of long-term viability; lax oversight and regulation; obscene bonuses and golden parachutes regardless of performance; reckless risk-taking that has placed the markets in jeopardy; rewards for foreclosing on middle-class families and selling mortgages designed to fail; and outsourcing good jobs to serve short-term stock prices instead of America’s long-term economic health.
This is a sink-or-swim moment for America. We cannot simply catch our breath. We’ve got to swim for the shores. We must address the conditions that set the stage for the turmoil unfolding on Wall Street, or we will find ourselves lurching from crisis to crisis. Just as Wall Street must once again look further than the quarterly report, our nation must as well.
Mrs. Clinton, a Democrat, is a senator from New York.
WTF – Comex!
Gold Sep 10
(COMEX: GCU10.CMX)
Day’s Range: 1,233.00 – 3,401.50
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=GCU10.CMX+Interactive#chart1:symbol=gcu10.cmx;range=1d;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
chi #92,
“… perception that the “hose” has an unlimited amount of water pressure with the thought that diverting water by punching holes has no effect”.
It is not true. I am commenting only on why one should not pick one isolated case and focus all attention on it when there are bigger issues facing us. “We shouldn’t read to much into it” is not the same as “it is not a problem”. If you think there is something wrong with that view point, I concede the argument.
I think we all can disagree on which “bugs” are a priority, while completely agreeing that the system should be improved overall. If we get on that same page, we may find we have more in common than we think.
60. We agree on the Dept of education. 4000 people who bring absolutely nothing to the students of this great country. Oh, and I suppose calling you a POS was little harsh.
sasty: fine….just realize that when leftwing tells his story and you posit an attitude of “good for that guy for stickin’ it to the man”…remember as a taxpayer you should replace “man” with ME….
“the man” to ME
After spending most of my waking hours with university educated political-military turds who can’t see the writing on the wall, I relish my minutes of unvarnished reality on this site. Appropo drinking and shooting guns, I used to get hammered with a NJ State Trooper buddy who after a night of undercover work in SJ titty bars, would take out his off -duty 9mm and pop stop signs from the inside of his VW Beetle.
No wonder MS is calling for $65 oil in October.Millions of barrel of oil will be dumped by JPM in the market.
JPM told traders who bet on commodities for the firm’s account that their unit will be closed as the company begins to shut down all its proprietary trading, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The New York-based bank will shut proprietary trading in fixed-income and equities later, the person said.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bloomberg-jpmorgan-is-shutting-down-all-prop-trading-desks-2010-8#comment-4c7d5ccb7f8b9ae662440e00#ixzz0yDOQRWuV
[100],
Yeah, sure. They’ll now be called hedgers. They’ll give new meaning to Texas Hedge.
Hoboken or JC? What’s the beat option for a 26 year old guy going on 27? Getting tired of living at home even though I’m putting away about 4k a month. Really can’t stand it anymore.
Scottie
Hookers & blow! It’ll make it all better and be cheaper.
Scottie,
Just think about the partying that the equivalent JC/Hoboken rent would fund on a monthly basis!!!!
re# 102 Scottie – Jersey City is good for lots of gunfire and they have real life thugs there like Tommy Terrell Thompson the leader of the Bloods Gang. If you really want to get a”beat option” as you put it move to Jersey City. The only thing that will happen in Hoboken is you might get a few slaps as the Frat Boys try and do the reach around on you.
If you want to really live large and get the c*rA*P kicked out of you for a while on your extra 4k a month largess go out and get a nice bug infested tenement in a 5 story walk up in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx and be sure to tell the neighbors about your extra walk around money. It will be a real laugh as you spend your nights fending off the perps and the bedbugs!
105. Ouch. My guess is that more cuties are in Hoboken. But Brooklyn is the bomb!
re: Earl, etc.
Homeowner’s insurance is cheap here. Imagine what a spike in that cost would do to those barely keeping pace with RE taxes.
More Earl:
Dang, my crap is on the west coast. Lefty’s pal is getting manna from heaven; all I’m asking for is enough wind to tear off some roofs.
Scottie, it all depends on what you are looking for. You’ll get a nicer apt in Jersey City but it is quieter and yes there is crime. Also do you want a car? Jersey City has more developments with parking. What ever one you pick there is plenty going on and the rents are high as hell. Beware of Jersey City outside of downtown.
56-
You drop $300 at a steakhouse and complain about being overcharged $2 for an ice cream cone in a resort town? Cone and soda at a Dairy Queen cost about $5.50.
Talk about hubris….
“Everything is pointing to the need for more spending,”
Know what else leads to increased spending, Psul? Jobs. Employed people spend money.
Let business create jobs and there will be more spending.
This concept seems alien to the left.
Who used to post the pictures of those Myrtle Beach (or elsewhere in SC) that were just a few feet off the water.
May be time to re-post as the waves from Earl will likely put those homes out to sea.
Sastry
One factual correction: You say the bank made a ‘mistake’ and that it is an isolated case. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The bank contacted my friend because they were falling short of a government mandated quota. There was no ‘mistake’, the intent could not be clearer. Nor is it an ‘isolated case’, as presumably this financial institution, and possibly others, is out there replicating this process to fill its quota.
This is the ‘bigger issue’ you reference that we are facing.
It transcends political parties.
It is to what extent a government, any government, has a claim on the proceeds of my efforts? Apparently we have now moved to where a government may take the proceeds of my labors and simultaneously incentivize an offer of $100k to a person of the socioeconomic profile I describe while supporting a whole underclass on the other side of the socioeconomic spectrum – all paid for by my labors.
How is this so?
Awesome! Realtor did not even wait to get the garbage out of the driveway before taking the shot. I bet the family foreclosed on were barely out of the frame before the snap.
http://www.trulia.com/property/3025829144-7-Woodchuck-Ct-Norwalk-CT-06854
Leftwing,
Don’t bother. I’ve deduced by Sastry’s unwillingness to discuss such questions that he thinks the collective has 100% ownership of any given individual’s life. It’s pretty clear to me that he doesn’t think inalienable rights apply to one’s production or property, that it “takes a village” to make a person and thus nobody deserves whatever they have, unless they don’t have anything, in which case they deserve whatever you have.
Has there been any good news in NJ over the past few weeks?
#114
With power lines visible in the background… amazing.
116: Jersey Shore Season II?
Left #113,
I’ll put on right wing hat… Your friend paid his taxes and he is getting his money back. He will trickle it down profusely via some nice wines. Any part of the remaining money may not be your money — may be mine?
On a serious note, from http://www.realtytrac.com/content/news-and-opinion/new-loan-mod-plan-open-to-investment-property-4697
The purpose of the policy, says the Fed, is to “avoid preventable foreclosures” in those cases where the Fed can “maximize the net present value of the assets for the benefit of taxpayers.
If the motivation behind preventing foreclosures is to “maximize the net present value of the assets” [when that itself is an undesirable outcome since it will make housing less affordable for general public], instead of helping struggling families that may get crushed when the lose their homes, we have already lost big time — and the country is rotting badly. Your friend’s 100k was just equivalent of collateral damage.
The collective has been propping up the elite for years. Fortunes made on their backs will be retrieved in blood. Viva La Revolution.
114. Sweet high tension power lines in the backyard. A hideous looking house.
Problem banks? No problem. Rally on.
http://link.businessinsider.com/view/ike.4jj/c3369dfe
#119, before A. West gets his pants wet…
“Any part of the remaining money may not be your money — may be mine?”…
Any part of the 100k freebie that he got that wasn’t his taxes coming back to him… was it my tax money going to him (instead of your omnipresent tax money)?
The earlier statement might have read a bit like, “I want to have any remaining money”, which would have got West frothing at his mouth.
Has there been any good news in NJ over the past few weeks?
Doom,knob creek and beer
Hookers & blow! It’ll make it all better and be cheaper.
just realize that when leftwing tells his story and you posit an attitude of “good for that guy for stickin’ it to the man”…remember as a taxpayer you should replace “man” with ME….
This comes down to Don’t hate the player, hate the game. If the guy got a principal reduction thats between him and Jamie D. The contract is between the two of them and no one else. Why would anyone have a problem with it. Why Jamie is doing it is a different issue. Is it a ploy to get at tax payer funds or funding or is just a case of spoending a few dollars to pay lip service to the administration.
It’s like the tax code. I have no problem with anyone claiming a tax credit the code says they are entitled to, I have an issue with why the credit is there in the first place.
#119 Collateral damage???? Good God! What ‘s next? “We had to destroy the village to save it?” Or, in this case, we had to destroy the country in order not to look like schmucks. Look, the fruits of labor belong to the laborer, no one else. A small amount of that money is necessary for the smallest possible government. Any other portion of that money given to any other person, organization or cause should be given by the individual VOLUNTARILY. Left’s buddy’s windfall means only one thing – to quote sl, “we are so f—ed!”
“avoid preventable foreclosures”
Do we not even read what is written anymore? What type of Orwellian, Animal Farm-esque idea is that?
What is a ‘preventable foreclosure’ and how can one be ‘avoided’? Any foreclosure is preventable and avoided by reducing the principal or interest rate enough. I can avoid foreclosure on a billion dollar note – give me a ten year balloon at 2.0%.
It is a circular and meaningless statement and although one may understand its ‘intent’ that intent is far from clear. Not surprising because it is through interpreting that intent that the state gains power by granting favors and wealth.
All that is left is to determine who is Snowball and who is Napoleon.
Or starve the beast.
#111 Shore
The problem is the right has no idea how to create jobs without deficit spending. Give companies tax credits and you add to the deficit. The companies take the credits and don’t hire, repair balance sheets and continue the migration overseas.
If you want to repair the economy, let the gvmt compete in the marketplace with their procurement. If they are going to pay $100 for a wrench, let them pay an american worker $100 for the wrench and keep the dollars in the economy. As opposed to paying a contracting firm $100 for a $10 wrench from China that they parked $80 offshore to buy.
Bonehead strikes again, makes me think “Mission Accomplished!”
Boehner will tell the American Legion. “Using campaign promises as a yardstick to measure success in Iraq and Afghanistan runs the risk of triggering artificial victory laps and premature withdrawal dates unconnected to conditions on the ground.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41615.html
#126 outofstater
“Look, the fruits of labor belong to the laborer, no one else.” Marx doesn’t go down well with some in here, it gives them indigestion.
The fruits of the labor are proportional to the cost of the capital put up. If I put up a $1 for supplies and the cost of your labor is $1. If we sell the product for $4 you get a dollar for your labor and I get two for the capital.
forgot my
/sarcasm
what’s with this fear to forcast the worst information today? Why sugar coat everything, this is why no one is prepared for problems when they arise, because the Media won’t go ahead and say that the Hurricane is going to come on land and curve right over NC, VA, MD, DC etc… instead the track is softened to “hopefully” keep the storm off of the coast.They’ve miss predicted the storm the entire track why try to keep making best case scenario predictions… I hate Weathermen. Just make the track right and then everyone will be releaved when the Hurricane “DOESN’T” make landfall.