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The Price Dropped And That Could Be A Reflection Of There Being Less Demand

A report from the Wall Street Journal. “Chinese investors sold off billions more in U.S. commercial property last year than they bought, as other foreigners start to sour on the U.S. market as well. Foreign investors were net sellers of U.S. commercial real estate last year for the first time since 2012, posing a fresh setback for a market that is already showing signs of strain. Chinese were by far the biggest foreign sellers, unloading $20 billion more than they bought, according to Real Capital Analytics. But investors from Japan, Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere were also active sellers last year, exiting properties in New York, Los Angeles and cities in Texas and Illinois. Their exodus is putting new pressure on the market as property values have leveled off.”

“Some Chinese owners, strapped for cash, feel compelled to make full or partial sales of their projects. China’s Oceanwide Holdings last month said it has sold its San Francisco condo and office project for a loss of 1.9 billion Chinese yuan ($274 million). ‘The cost and difficulty of development and operations has risen sharply, putting a strain on the company’s overall operations,’ the Beijing-based company said in a filing.”

“‘Prices are high relative to where we are in the cycle,’ said Jim Costello, senior vice president at Real Capital Analytics. He added that there is increasing skepticism about being able to profit when properties are this highly valued: ‘It’s getting harder to make anything pencil out.'”

From Yahoo Finance. “Monthly payments are cheaper for renters in 84% of the counties analyzed. In these counties, home prices were 260% higher than the national median price, while rents were only 79% more. But the gap in renter-friendly counties is narrowing even faster than it is in the rest of the country. With rents in Brooklyn, New York City, and Santa Cruz, Calif. decreasing 24%, 20% and 18%, respectively — compared to the 2.8% decrease nationally.”

“‘In these areas, the markets are so large and well established that, for the most part, buying comes with a huge premium. These tend to be markets that attract not only homeowners and investors but international investors, too — like New York and California,’ said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, about these counties, including Santa Barbara, Calif., Monterey, Calif., San Mateo, Calif., and San Francisco, Calif.”

The Los Angeles Times in California. “Veteran baseball outfielder Matt Kemp has sold his custom estate in Poway’s Heritage community for $4.3 million, records show. The 15,844-square-foot mansion, which Kemp spent about $3 million to renovate, originally hit the market in late 2016 for $11.5 million and was more recently listed for $4.999 million, records show. The three-time all-star bought the property in 2013 using a corporate entity for $9.075 million, according to the San Diego County recorder.”

The Daily Progress in Virginia. “Prices in Albemarle actually dropped about 7%, from $395,000 in the last quarter of 2018 to $369,250 in fourth quarter 2019. ‘The median price dropped almost $30,000, and that could be a reflection of there being less demand for certain price points and types of housing hitting the market in the county,’ said Tom Woolfolk, CAAR president.”

From Curbed Austin in Texas. “People play pretty fast and loose with the term ‘modernism’—especially when it comes to residential architecture. Rest assured, then, that this sprawling home in leafy Highland Park West embodies some of the form’s most identifiable aspects—and does so in stunning fashion. When the home hit the market in September, it was priced at an ambitious $3.25 million. Now it’s back, this time asking $2,999,000—a drop of more than $250,000.”

From Bisnow on Texas. “When lender Beal Bank posted a foreclosure notice against the former JCPenney corporate campus revitalized by developer Sam Ware, the bank’s quick move took Ware by surprise. ‘[There is] a tremendous amount of activity going on, so I think everyone is very alarmed and shocked that the bank was so aggressive, but we can’t speak for the bank,’ Ware, CEO of Dreien Opportunity Partners and Silo Harvesting Partners said. ‘All we can do is protect our asset and continue to work with our tenants and our prospective tenants and land buyers.'”

“He blames the development’s Beal Bank troubles on unsustainable financing. The property’s existing 36-month loan with an original principal of $388M carries an interest rate of roughly 9% to 10% at a time when other commercial loans on similar properties are financing for half as much, he said. ‘My goal is to sit back and say there is nothing wrong with the asset, it’s the capital stack,’ Ware said. ‘It’s a spectacular asset. There’s nothing wrong with the asset.'”

From Forbes on New York. “A New York City mayoral commission released a report last week that recommends massive changes to the way residential properties are taxed across the five boroughs. Mark​ A. Hakim, a real estate attorney, says that while the property tax system in New York City, the proposal, like the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 passed last year by the New York State legislature, doesn’t consider the ‘realities of the marketplace.'”

“‘Obviously something should be done,’ Hakim says. Under the current proposal, ‘tax bills for some will decrease but will, for others, increase drastically, making their homes and apartments unaffordable and possibly even unsaleable. The legislature needs to slow down and consider the actual effect on individuals who will benefit and those who will not. I truly understand the need for fairness, but a knee-jerk, feel-good legislation, without ample consideration of the real estate markets and economy in general, would be foolish and shortsighted. We already have many people investing and moving to droves more affordable states and there is no need to further push New York into a downward spiral.'”

From Patch New York. “What a difference a month made for swanky home prices in Crown Heights and Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Real estate prices plunged across Brooklyn in January, a new study home listing website RealtyHop found. A Crown Heights brownstone at 2 Virginia Place saw its listed price drop by $426,875, for instance. That’s nothing compared to a pair of Chelsea apartments that nabbed the distinction of the biggest drop by dollar amount — $4.78 million — but the now-$1.8 million Crown Heights home’s listing dip was a larger percentage drop.”

“Five Brooklyn neighborhoods, in fact, counted as the city’s top five for highest median percentage price drops, the study found. Those were: 1. Rugby-Remsen Village Brooklyn with a $243,500 typical decrease, or 12 percent. 2. Crown Heights South Brooklyn with a $185,000 typical decrease, or 10 percent. 3. Williamsburg Brooklyn with a $230,000 typical decrease, or 10 percent. 4. Cypress Hills-City Line Brooklyn a $55,000 typical decrease, or 10 percent. 5. Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate Brooklyn with a $111,111 typical decrease, or 9 percent.”

“The Virginia Place home wasn’t the only high-dollar Crown Heights or Prospect Lefferts Garden listing to take a hit. A seven-bedroom home at 1247 Union St. fell $320,000 in January to $1.9 million, according to the report. Likewise, a three-bedroom at 1 Grand Army Plaza is now listed just shy of $3 million after a $290,000 plunge.”

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  2. ‘With rents in Brooklyn, New York City, and Santa Cruz, Calif. decreasing 24%, 20% and 18%, respectively — compared to the 2.8% decrease nationally’

    Wa happened to my shortage, used shack sellers?

    ‘sold his custom estate in Poway’s Heritage community for $4.3 million, records show. The 15,844-square-foot mansion, which Kemp spent about $3 million to renovate, originally hit the market in late 2016 for $11.5 million and was more recently listed for $4.999 million, records show. The three-time all-star bought the property in 2013 using a corporate entity for $9.075 million’

    Yeah, but there’s no bubble that has popped LA Times.

    1. Poway has some fancy homes, but not many in the stratospheric price range Kemp imagined himself getting.

      2. It’s fricking Poway. All they have is more rocks, a few urban wineries and they’re midway to SD downtown. That’s it. 4.3 million is better spent near the coast IMHO.

        1. near the coast

          I’ve got a house in Encinitas Highlands if you’re interested. I probably shouldn’t advertise that we had a woman passed out outside the front gate surrounded by wine bottles a couple weeks ago on a Thursday morning, probably a guest from one of the many Airbnbs nearby who took Wine Wednesday at one of the town’s restaurants a little too seriously. Oh, and the city is opening a parking lot for people living in their cars to go along with the three “temporary” homeless bathroom facilities within a mile to control the spread of HepA. Those bathrooms are probably the only reason I haven’t found human $hit on the property yet. Plenty of people leave their dog $hit or use my trash cans.

          1. It’s a really adorable house though with a remote-control stream that dampens the traffic noise, which is getting worse as more high-density developments are being built on the other side of I-5.

    2. The primary business of America is no longer selling off America. That is a great development. It may lead to Realtors eating bat stew and bankers stealing food from their cafeterias, at least in Europe, but that is ok.

    4. Unfortunately, that Brooklyn drop has not happened, at least not yet. They are measuring rents at new luxury developments that were asking the moon, and have cut what they are asking to the stratosphere. But that is a small slice of the market.

      If you want to know what they are talking about, with regard to low property taxes on 1-3 family homes in gentrifying neighborhoods of NYC, you can read this post.

      https://larrylittlefield.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/taxes-generational-equity-new-york-state-and-new-york-city-in-2014/

      My guess is that a similar analysis would find better off seniors paying less in taxes than less well of workers just about everywhere in the U.S., and it’s getting worse.

      1. 01/30/2020 Sold $4,300,000 $271
        01/21/2020 Relisted $4,999,000 $315
        10/16/2019 Price Changed $4,999,000 $315
        10/16/2019 Price Changed $4,999,000 $315
        08/21/2019 Listed $5,999,000 $378
        08/20/2019 Listed $5,999,000 $378
        12/04/2018 Listed $6,950,000 $438
        10/03/2018 Relisted $6,950,000 $438
        02/10/2018 Price Changed $6,950,000 $438
        11/29/2017 Listed $7,950,000 $501
        12/12/2016 Listed $11,500,000 $725
        12/08/2016 Listed $11,500,000 $725
        06/28/2013 Sold $9,075,000 $572
        01/21/2013 Listed $12,000,000 $757
        09/08/2011 Price Changed $12,900,000 $814
        01/04/2010 Relisted $14,995,000 $946
        09/28/2009 Listed $14,995,000 $946

  3. ‘He blames the development’s Beal Bank troubles on unsustainable financing. The property’s existing 36-month loan with an original principal of $388M carries an interest rate of roughly 9% to 10% at a time when other commercial loans on similar properties are financing for half as much, he said. ‘My goal is to sit back and say there is nothing wrong with the asset, it’s the capital stack,’ Ware said. ‘It’s a spectacular asset. There’s nothing wrong with the asset.’

    This guy has turned into a foot stampin’, whiny little b$tch. Just pay them what you agreed to Sam. Or do you not have it?

    2. I think that poor Sam was the victim of a predatory lender. He deserves a break. Perhaps there is a government program like HAMP that can help him and other developer victims like him get mortgage modifications.

  4. ‘We already have many people investing and moving to droves more affordable states and there is no need to further push New York into a downward spiral’

    We read the industry say things like this, but yesterday the WSJ reported a 27% increase in NYC permits. Gosh, that’s kinda – irrational.

    1. Mortgage Watch…..What are the stats to back up your statement on a toxic market? I’d love it if that were really true but I don’t see it.

    1. It is going to be like the Last Ship tv series most of us are going to die. Ignore gold and silver dropping and the market recovering. Jk BTW, Zero Hedge has a great article which I am sure the Chinese government will hate.

      1. No Te$la $tock, no $tock$ @ all dear Professor … (except @ 20 year collection of BRK.B) … $elling x1 $hare will more than cover my $100 deposit for the 2022 Te$la Studebaker pickup truck!

        Two more flights carrying Americans fleeing coronavirus are expected to leave Wuhan soon
        By Jason Hanna and Steven Jiang, CNN
        Updated 10:00 AM EST, Tue February 04, 2020

        Beijing(CNN)Two flights evacuating hundreds of US citizens from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China are scheduled to depart for the United States on Tuesday, a US official with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

        About 550 passengers will be aboard the two flights departing from Wuhan, China, the official told CNN on condition of anonymity. These are the second and third such flights from Wuhan that were arranged by the US government in roughly the past week.

        The latest flights are expected to head to two California military bases: Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, and Travis Air Force Base between San Francisco and Sacramento, according to the official.

        The flights come about a week after the first US government-arranged flight left Wuhan. That first chartered plane, carrying nearly 200 US citizens — including diplomats and their families — arrived January 29 at March Air Reserve Base in Southern California.

        US airport official asks ‘how is this going to work?’ as confusion crops up over coronavirus travel restrictions
        The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered a federal 14-day quarantine for those evacuees — the first such order in more than 50 years.

        Tuesday’s flights seem to end a few days of uncertainty for the Americans who’d been seeking a way out of Wuhan. A US-arranged flight initially was to depart on Monday, but was delayed, a US official with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

        The Chinese government on Monday declined to comment about the delay. But it came as Beijing criticized the United States’ response to the coronavirus outbreak, including temporarily denying foreign nationals entry to the US if they had been in China in the previous 14 days.

        More than 20,000 cases of Wuhan coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, including 11 in the United States. At least 427 people have died from the virus.

        On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there were plans for more repatriation flights from Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. It wasn’t immediately clear how many more, or when they would happen.

        “We have a handful more flights that will be heading to China to bring Americans back home from Hubei province,” Pompeo said Monday at a news conference in Uzbekistan

          2. What Musk is saying is that all he cares about is how competent you are, and that your college pedigrees are irrelevant. Many other employers are doing the same thing, without the Musk virtue signaling.

            Doctors might display their diplomas in their offices, but engineers don’t, because no one cares.

          4. $ad, oil @ $< $49.86 … $ad.

            Market$

            $audi Arabia fund dumped nearly all of its Tes$la $hares in the fourth quarter before the rally

            CNBC |PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 4 2020 |Yun Li

            KEY POINT$
            The $audi Arabia Public Investment Fund now holds just about 39,000 shares of the stock after selling 99.5% of its holding.
            The fund held more than 8.2 million shares by the end of the third quarter of 2019, which would have been worth more than $7 billion at Tuesday’s price.

            The fund missed out on Tesla’s massive rally in the new year. Shares of the electric-car maker soared 20% to above $900 on Tuesday, bringing its 2020 gains to more than 110%.

          5. The fund missed out on Tesla’s massive rally in the new year. Shares of the electric-car maker soared 20% to above $900 on Tuesday, bringing its 2020 gains to more than 110%.

            Totally sustainable. Couldn’t happen to a nicer fund…but I think they’ll be proven right. This reminds me of early 2000 when the last few stocks were still headed for the moon while the rest were already headed down…

          7. I sense some desperation. Musk said the robo-taxi fleet would be on the road this year. But their cars keep crashing into things while on autopilot.

          8. I sense some desperation

            I sense a lack of profitability. The cars aren’t priced high enough to make a profit. I sense the customer is losing economically because the cars cost too much.

            The moon shot on the stock is just spectacular!!

          9. A large chunk of the spike is the short squeeze, and I’m fine with that. When wall street insiders are trying to engineer a company to fail so they can profit, I’m happy to see them burn.

          10. Musk said the robo-taxi fleet would be on the road this year.

            It is interesting how all the media chatter about the imminence of self driving cars has died out.

          11. Carl, I agree. This has late 1999-2000 written all over it. The obsession with hollow tech, the bubbly valuations, tech companies offering jobs to people with middling or even no higher education, investors buying stocks even though they KNOW it’s a bad idea. Even if investors don’t want to buy Tesla, they *have* to or they will be fired from their jobs.
            That’s right out of 1999. Last month someone was even exhorting buying into a rhodium fund because it was skyrocketing. Wait, if the price is so high, shouldn’t they be profit-taking instead of buying? Irrational exuberance.

            And the social issues too. In the late 90s, men were questioning their manhood. And now we have… all genders questioning their gender and females empowering themselves (except the 2019 version was loud, annoying, and without merit). This kind of societal contemplation is a luxury only possible in a good economy.

            It’s high time for a retrench.

        2. Ma$$ human vector tran$portation mode$ … Inter$ect$ with … “Ju$t.in.time” global di$tribution dependabilitie$.

          World:

          Over 25,000 China Flights Axed as Virus Panic Creates Disruption

          By Anurag Kotoky February 3, 2020, 7:52 AM EST

          China Travel Slumps 73% Over Holidays Because of Coronavirus

          More than 25,000 flights to, from and within China will be canceled this week as more than two dozen airlines suspend services to the country because of the coronavirus outbreak, leading to an unprecedented shakeup in the world’s second-largest aviation market.

          In the Chinese domestic market — about 43 times larger than the largest international market — 3.8 million seats will be lost

          International capacity will fall by 4.4 million seats a week, with Lion Air, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Turkish Airlines cutting flights to China, resulting in the “most dramatic change in schedule” in such a short time, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd. The loss in seats in the international market is equivalent to the entire Indian market,

          “The likelihood is that we will see further changes in the next week in response to both the virus but also demand which has naturally been impacted with consumer confidence badly damaged,” OAG said in the statement. “One virus has essentially resulted in the amount of capacity equivalent to the whole of the Indian market being wiped out is something we hopefully will not see again for a very long time.”

          1. ‘the amount of capacity equivalent to the whole of the Indian market being wiped out’

            Greta? Greta?

            I was watching a Tee Vee show about this yesterday and they mentioned the Chinese use of trains and domestic air travel is way higher now than during the SARS thing.

          2. Anecdotal evidence #27: Global $ynchronized $lowing is a $ocial Media myth!

            Coronaviru$ damage$ China’s auto indu$try as outbreak wor$ens

            CNBC |PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 4 2020| By Michael Wayland

            “unprecedented in so many ways.”

            Dunne said the last time China had any issue close to this was SARS, however that was nearly 20 years ago and the country didn’t have the global impact it does today on industries such as automotive.

            China’s auto factories produced 1.1 million passenger vehicles in 2002 when the the SARS epidemic erupted, killing 349 people in China from 2002 to 2003, according to International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. That compares to roughly 23.5 million today, according to the group.

            Operations impacted:

            Employees with Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler who are able to do so are working from home this week, while production at both automakers’ plants is scheduled to remain closed until at least next week, the companies confirmed to CNBC.

            Other automakers such as Honda Motor and French carmaker Renault have extended plant shutdowns in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, until Feb. 13, in accordance with the Chinese government’s guidance, according to Reuters.

            General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker in China, last week told employees there that it will keep its Chinese factories shut down through Feb. 9. A company spokesman on Tuesday confirmed those plans remain.

            South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor and Ssangyong Motor also have suspended operations at some operations in their home country due to supply disruption, according to Reuters.

            Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn last week confirmed the company was in the “early stages” of understanding if and to what extent its new Shanghai plant may be impacted by the coronavirus.

            KEY POINT$:

            IHS Markit expects a loss of at least 350,000 units of vehicle production due to the coronavirus shuttering plants until Feb. 10.

            If the plants remain closed until mid-March, the firm forecasts lost production of more than 1.7 million units.

            At least 24 provinces, municipalities and other regions in China have told businesses not to resume work before Feb. 10.

          3. X1 added from South Korea:

            Hyundai to Halt Korea Output on Parts Shortage:

            Hyundai Motor Co. is halting production in South Korea this week because of a component shortage caused by the coronavirus, the first global automaker to suspend output outside China because of the outbreak.

            The carmaker has been hit by a shortage of a wiring component made by a Chinese supplier, whose operations have been halted after a worker was infected by the virus, Hyundai Motor’s labor union said. Production may resume from Feb. 11 or Feb. 12, a spokesman for the union said by phone. A company spokesman confirmed the suspension without giving details.

          4. Greta? Greta?

            St. Greta won’t be happy until all airliners have been scrapped and Boeing and Airbus close their doors for good.

          5. St. Greta won’t be happy I’ll be happy when I can’t find an online quote from her that is less than a year old.

    3. “Are you missing the coronavirus relief rally?”
      Ye$!

      POLITICS
      Coronavirus will delay export ‘boom’ from US-China phase 1 trade deal, Larry Kudlow says

      PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 4 UPDATED MOMENTS AGO
      CNBC |Kevin Breuninger

      President Donald Trump’s economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Tuesday that the deadly Chinese coronavirus outbreak will dent a surge in exports that is expected to flow from the first “phase” of the U.S.-China trade deal signed last month.

      “It is true the trade deal, the phase one trade deal, the export boom from that trade deal will take longer because of the Chinese virus. That is true,” Kudlow said in a Fox Business Network interview.

      1. Dont worry Baby! FED to the rescue!!! QE5 Not QE coming!!! The FED no longer allows business cycle, recession, or Pandemic outbreak!!!!! Buy Buy Buy!!!

    4. Seems like a major liquidity dump operation is in play to offset the negative impact of the coronavirus scare on stock prices.

        2. Kind of related to Ben’s point that QE is deflationary. The supply chain was moving from China due to rising wages and tariffs. Low cost of capital can cause plants in say Mexico to open up. These brand new plants financed with cheap capital will Perhaps be built on the border where the high value operations are conducted in the US and the labor intensive operations occurring in Mexico. In the short run it may not be entire plants but just a new machine tool purchased to increase parts production in the US.

          1. Mexico has its own problems. Organized crime is extorting everyone while the current administration crosses its arms and refuses to do anything about it, while it sells every asset it has, including the presidential plane, to pay for gib me dats that were promised during the election campaign. Mexico’s economic grow is now negative, partially because foreign investors are taking their money elsewhere.

            Under previous administrations growth was as high as 7%, which helped slow the Mexodus. The free cheese will keep the Mexodus low, until it runs out.

          2. American corporations who offshore manufacturing should be penalized to the point where it is not financially beneficial to do so. It’s the only way. Global wage arbitrage is what has destroyed this country.

          3. Mexico has deep water ports, access to Atlantic and pacific trade routes, industrial and precious metals, timber, agriculture, oil and gas, etc. in terms of physical resources, it has pretty much everything the US has. It’s tragic the state the country is in.

          4. “It’s tragic the state the country is in.”

            Rumor has it, they are going to $ell a 15 mile wide $trip from Brownsville, Tx … to Tijuana, Mx to North Korea … The liberty’$ of a $overeign Nation!

          5. Headless Bankers, in 2009 and 2010 Obama and Senator Durbin *tried* to punish offshoring. They were shut down by Republicans. That was probably one of the last times the Dems cared about the Working Man.

        3. The gloomsters haven’t disappeared, despite the stock market’s evident return to massive upside potential.

          S&P 500 headed for a 67% downturn? Seems ‘preposterous’ now but so did similar pullbacks begun in 2000 and 2007, says fund manager
          Published: Feb 4, 2020 2:43 p.m. ET
          ‘Whatever they’re doing, it’s not “investment.”’
          iStockphoto
          Careful out there!
          By Shawn Langlois
          Social-media editor

          It’s hard out there for a bear.

          Despite a few notable hiccups along the way, the bull market just continues to prove insanely resilient. The latest evidence of that was on full display during Tuesday’s torrid session as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA, +1.74%) and (S&P 500 SPX, +1.77%) were staging fierce rallies.

          Does that change John Hussman’s mind about what lies ahead? Nope. The man behind Hussman Strategic Advisors is nothing if not consistent, and recent market action only has him digging in his heels in a bearish stance.

          “Current hypervalued extremes are likely to be followed by market losses on the order of two-thirds of value of the S&P 500,” he told clients in a note. “I recognize that the notion of a two-thirds market loss. seems preposterous. Then again, so did similar projections before the 2000-2002 and 2007-09 collapses.”

          Not only that, Hussman used this chart to illustrate his view that a conventional passive investment mix will deliver a negative nominal return over the next 12 years, a remarkably dark outlook considering the market’s historic returns:
          …

          “Understand this: The more glorious this bubble becomes in hindsight, the more dismal future investment returns become in foresight,” he wrote. “Investment is not independent of price. Whatever they’re doing, it’s not ‘investment.’”
          …

  7. They try to make it sound like a bad thing that the Chinese are selling. They are strapped for cash because China is not allowed to run ever larger trade surpluses with the US. This makes the Chinese government need to conserve dollars and limit transfers. This is similar to what happened when Reagan defied globalist economists and used to the threat of tariffs to force Japan to alter it’s trade practices. When Japan collapsed the US did fine except for commercial real estate, we will do fine when China collapses.

    1. Our trade deficit is going up, not down. We will still have a trade deficit when (as a result of its aging demographics) China no longer has a surplus.

      The problem is us, not them.

      https://larrylittlefield.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/rising-u-s-debt-is-the-real-cause-of-the-u-s-trade-deficit-and-inequality/

      Although inequality and the resulting lack of consumer spending power in China itself is also part of the problem.

      https://www.economist.com/china/2019/11/30/the-migrants-who-made-china-an-industrial-giant-face-a-grim-retirement

      Our ungrateful Generation Greed is now all over age 60. Theirs is treating its parents the way ours treated its children.

    1. The thought crossed my mind as well, and that once they get it up and running again that Sanders will have done poorly. We’ll see.

      1. Well now the DNC has no choice but to rig the iowa caucus in Sander’s favor. Otherwise…..they are done.

      2. I think they were thinking less ambitious. They need to keep Biden above 15 percent of he gets no delegates. Hey I wish them luck Mayor Pete, Biden and Bloomberg splitting the globalists’ votes is Bernie’s ticket to the nomination

        2. A good portion of my practice as a patent attorney was nucleic acid diagnostics. The design of primers for nucleic acid amplification and probes for detection requires knowing and avoiding genetically similar sequences so that the test only detects the desired target. Novel junctions, such as those resulting from differential RNA splicing or genetic insertions, are of particular interest.

          1. I sensed you had expertise in the area. I understand it is impossible to have certainly based on what we know, but what is your opinion on the probability of some sort of engineering?

          2. Redhead, that’s interesting. I wonder that’s the sort of job you can do without a college degree, like Elon Musk says. 🙄

    3. “…State campaign finance records indicate the Iowa Democratic Party paid Shadow, a tech company that joined with ACRONYM last year, more than $60,000 for “website development” over two installments in November and December of last year…Gerard Niemira, a veteran of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, is the head of Shadow. He previously served as chief technology officer and chief operating officer of ACRONYM…”

      https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/iowa-caucus-app-shadow-054732577.html

      1. Reddit users in the huge r/SandersForPresident community dunked on Democratic bigwigs. #MayorCheat trended on Twitter after Pete Buttigieg, whose campaign has previously contracted the firm behind the app, claimed a win last night with no data to be had. And Kyle Kulinski, a popular lefty YouTuber and co-founder of Justice Democrats, called on DNC Chair Tom Perez to resign.

        “This is either record-breaking incompetence or it’s an attempt to game the results,” Kulinski said on Twitter. “Those are the only two options.”

        https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pkekkv/bernie-got-robbed-in-iowa-so-hes-at-war-with-the-democrats-again

          1. ‘We are witnessing the end the Democratic party and I’m here for it
            I love to see all the new #BernieorBust advocates now #DNCisCorrupt
            I always thought it was dumb to pledge your vote to a corrupt party.’

            ‘After last night, I am #BernieOrBust —It is clear the DNC cannot be trusted, once again, to run fair primaries. #DNCisCorrupt #BernieWonIowa #MayoPeteCheats’

            ‘Good time to remind everyone that Pete Buttigieg attended the ‘Stop Bernie’ meetings last year. #MayorCheat #DNCisCorrupt’

          2. Even my very democratic party supporting parents have had enough and are ready to renounce them. Be on the lookout for airborne swine.

    4. Evidently the precincts are sending visual picture evidence along with reporting by phone. So I think the results are going to be accurate. However, it doesn’t leave out the possibility that the app was supposed to do some rigging but failed.

    5. The Iowa vote-counting debacle should red pill at least the Bernie Bros as to the mind-boggling magnitude of the corruption, incompetence, and mendacity of the Democratic Party. They don’t even pretend to hide the rigging and manipulation any more when it comes to ensuring the outcome their globalist masters dictate.

      1. Globalists gonna globe.

        Picture a plastic mold, into which the “contents” of a globalist candidate are poured. Obama: this one’s black. Clinton: this one’s female. Buttigieg: this one’s gay.

        They’re all the same globalist corporate warmonger drone, but to be awarded special “points” for checking the right identity politics checklists.

        The DNC is a f*cking joke.

  10. Press Release

    Thousand Oaks Realtors Shares 3 Tips For Potential Home Sellers

    ‘The current trends in home ownership are pointing towards a buyers market. This means there are more properties on the market than there are buyers. The buyers have considerably more flexibility in their buying options and process, so moving a home can be difficult.’

    “The house should be absolutely spotless. Beds made, toilet seats down and the like. The buyer needs to see the home as pristine as possible. That first look is very important,” said Wire.’

    ‘Wire also recommends turning on and leaving on all of the lights in the home. This does two things: 1. It lets the home buyer know all of the fixtures work; 2. It shows the home is light and bright. “These seem like minor things, but the home buyer has the upper hand in a buyer’s market. The small things are what gives the seller a better chance of moving the home,” said Wire.’

    ‘Lastly, Wire needs the family or owner to make a day trip somewhere. This way the house can be shown without anyone in it and the buyer can inspect the home freely without interruption. “It is common to have a day, often a Saturday or Sunday, for an open house viewing. A real estate agent will have a home here in Thousand Oaks, CA available, and they will stay at the house for the day waiting on visitors,” said Wire.’

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4576391

    Bake us some cookies and scram!

    1. “Beds made, toilet seats down and the like.”

      Our LL sold the place we recently left ‘as is’ with no problem. She may not have maxed out the potential sale price, but she didn’t do any of this stuff the used home sellers claim is necessary to sell.

        2. On the contrary, she dropped the price to reflect 15 years of deferred maintenance. I hope they made a little for all the sweet amenities they paid for (yard service, home maintenance contract, rec club membership, etc.)
          on us helping them pay down their mortgage, because capital gains were negative after inflation.

      2. I took the same low-key approach when selling my house in the Bay Area in late 2016. The real estate agent really didn’t like it and threatened to quit. I said I was okay with that, I would find someone else. She didn’t quit. Staging and window cleaning and all that nonsense is not free. Sure, the price you get might be a little higher, but probably not after all the fees. The commission is definitely higher, though, which is why the real estate agents push it so hard, at the seller’s great expense and trouble. It’s not worth it.

    2. 1. Write Love letter to buyer explaining to them why they will love the house.
      2. Pay all commissions and costing costs.
      3. LOWER THE PRICE!

    3. Hmmm… I see nothing about removing wallpaper. It’s so labor intensive and expensive that flippers will install the usual cheap HD kitchen and bath but still keep the 1980s wallpaper. I’ve also seen those same houses sit on the market and then a new set of pictures quietly appear… without the wallpaper.

  11. Gallup just came out with a poll which shows Trump’s approval rate at 49 percent which is much worse news than it sounds due to the methodology used which was the most favorable for Democrats. If I want an election poll which is most accurate I poll likely voters. This type of methodology usually has the best numbes for a Republican since they tend to reliably show up at the polls. Most often liberal publications particularly when they are trying to influence elections, poll registered voters. Many of these registered at MVD and have never voted and unlikely to do so unless someone votes for them. This poll went beyond that and asked anyone over 18. This should have and normally would have resulted in the Democrats having a ten point advantage or in this case Trump being the points under in favorabilty. Honestly if the election was being held today it would not only be an electoral college landslide it would be a popular vote landslide. Trump only needs 49 percent of likely voters to be reelected. The possibility of still having 49 percent support of the general population on election day must be giving the Globalists nightmares, not just Bernie better be careful.

    1. At least Tesla makes cars!

      Sure, they aren’t affordable
      And they aren’t durable or reliable
      And it takes forever to fully recharge one
      And the autopilot feature can be dangerous
      And they don’t sell many

      But hey, they have ‘ludicrous’ speed mode!

      1. Here, my friend Carter Worth aka, “Chart.Ma$ter ” help you out Colorado:

        “There’s no way to approach it fundamentally,” he said. “You can make up a long-term story for anything when you have no profits.”

        Carter Worth of Cornerstone Macro took one look at Tesla’s chart after Monday’s explosive move in the stock and couldn’t help but warn of a reversal.

        “We are literally going up and to the left. You’re not allowed to do that,” he said during a segment on CNBC. “It has all the elements of what you’d call parabolic.”

        He explained that we’ve seen action like this before — in bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.23% , in marijuana stocks and during the dot-com days. “Even if it triples… the path higher presumptively passes through a lower price,” he said. “It’s just too hot.”

        The day after his bearish take, Tesla TSLA, +0.96% shares opened with another double-digit percentage gain. If it was parabolic before, then it’s really parabolic now. Of course, such a move likely only fortifies Worth’s point, even if it was perhaps ill-timed

        https://www.marketwatch.com/story/chart-master-calls-a-blow-off-top-in-tesla-then-the-stock-rallies-another-15-2020-02-04?mod=home-page

      2. Innovation too! Think about how long we have been used to driving square / rectangle type trucks. Elon and his mad scientists have unlocked TRIANGLE truck technology! No wonder the stawk is to infinity and beyond! Freeeeeeee!!!!

  14. “Five Brooklyn neighborhoods, in fact, counted as the city’s top five for highest median percentage price drops, the study found.

    Die, speculator scum.

  15. As much as I am skeptical of all things, the suggestions and speculations about that biolab in China, and the one in Manitoba, continue to get worse.

    “If the Chinese government has been conducting human trials against SARS. MERS, or other coronviruses using recombined viruses, they may have made their citizens far more susceptible to acute respiratory distress syndrome upon infection with 2019-nCoV coronavirus.

    “The implications are clear: if China sensitized their population via a SARS vaccine, and this escaped from a lab, the rest of world has a serious humanitarian urgency to help China, but may not expect as serious an epidemic as might otherwise be expected.

    “In the worst-case scenario, if the vaccination strain is more highly contagious and lethal, 2019-nCoV could become the worst example of vaccine-derived contagious disease in human history. With an uncharacteristic aysmptomatic prodromal period of 5-7 days, individuals returning from China to other countries must be forthright and cooperative in their now-prescribed 2-week quarantine.”

    Sorry if someone else posted this already. I haven’t been keeping up.

    1. I’ve stayed out of the discussion so far, but I would put money on multiple governments wanting to find out if a pathogen can be genetically modified to target a specific group of (genome related) people. The tools and capability for gene editing have gotten exponentially easier and more available since in the last couple decades.

      I would think all the major powers are researching it, even if they have no plans to ever use such a thing offensively they would have to consider the possibility of a hostile entity doing so. So how would you recognize such an attack? How would you combat it?

      Given XI’s views on their Ugyhur population, and the crazy stuff they are doing to those detained, I’m sure it’s been asked if something like a bio agent that could cause sterility, or similar non-obvious but long-game attack could be created.

        1. I’d be on the same side of that wager.,

          The tech is out there now to edit genes in ways that were pure science fiction 20 years ago. Every nation with someone intelligent in the administration or defense department has to have considered the possible ramifications of where these advancements could all lead.

          It would be foolish, as failing your duties to your serve and protect your country, to think it’s being ignored, though I would assume governments would want the public to believe it was.

      3. So, to be blunt, there’s a possibility that someone out there is engineering a virus that specifically targets Chinese genetics? That’s somewhat tin foil hat, and clearly a war crime. That said, it *would* explain why it’s so contagious in China but is not a pandemic anywhere else. That is, the lack of spread is due more to the virus itself instead of the quarantines (Especially in a country like India.). It also would explain why the German patients caught it but had only very mild cases.

        1. I’m not actually thinking that this current virus was engineered that way, but thinking about the bigger, longer-term tactical picture.

          Look at where gene modifying tech was 10, 20 years ago vs today. Now extrapolate that into the future. Consider the advancement curves other tech has gone through. Now, as a leader in your country, ask yourself ‘what might other countries come up with and do with future advancements customizing genetic material?” and “how big a deal would it be if a virus could be tailored to only work against a specifically narrow genotype?”

          And then ponder… “how safe and careful would a BSL-4 lab built by Chinese sub-contractors be?” (BSL =Biosafety level – look it up).

  17. Seattle, WA Housing Prices Crater 17% YOY As Amazon And Microsoft Layoffs Clobber Homeowners

    https://www.zillow.com/seattle-wa-98102/home-values/

    *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

    As a noted economist said, “I can $50k for my run down Chevy truck but where is the buyer at that price? So it is with all depreciating assets like houses and cars.”

  20. Doesn’t China have lots of investments in Africa? I wonder if the coronavirus outbreak is a concern there?

    1. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus
      Africa ramps up coronavirus preparations as fears grow
      US warns that continent could become ‘soft underbelly’ of the deadly outbreak
      Mandatory Credit: Photo by DANIEL IRUNGU/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10542080a) A Kenyan health worker (L) screens a passenger wearing face mask after they arrived from China, at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, 29 January 2020. African airports are on high alert after a suspected cases of cononavirus were detected in the Ivory Coast, Kenya and Ethiopia. Coronavirus screening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya – 29 Jan 2020
      A Kenyan health worker screens a passenger at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi © Daniel Irungu/EPA/Shutterstock
      David Pilling in London and Katrina Manson in Washington 7 hours ago

      African health authorities have stepped up preparations for what experts fear is an inevitable outbreak of coronavirus as the US warned that the continent was an “Achilles heel” and risked becoming the “soft underbelly of the outbreak”.

      The White House late last week called in more than 50 ambassadors and diplomats from nearly 40 African countries to discuss their response, amid fears that an outbreak would severely test the ability of weak health systems to diagnose and contain the virus.

      Only two laboratories in sub-Saharan Africa — the Institut Pasteur in Senegal and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa — are able to test for the virus, raising concern that cases could go undetected or might already exist.
      …

    1. Health and Science
      Princess Cruises quarantines 3,700 for two weeks on ship after 10 passengers test positive for new coronavirus
      Published Tue, Feb 4 2020 6:54 PM EST
      Updated 3 hours ago
      William Feuer
      @WillFOIA
      Key Points
      — Princess Cruises said it has placed 3,700 passengers and crew under mandatory quarantine after ten passengers aboard a cruise ship in Yokohama tested positive for the new coronavirus.
      — The company said Monday that a previous guest, who didn’t have any symptoms while aboard the ship, tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday.
      — The ship was being held in Japan for 24 hours while Japanese health authorities assessed the 3,700 passengers and crew on board.
      …

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