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Most Developers Just Need To Cut Prices, Waiting On The Market Doesn’t Get You Anything

A report from the Buffalo News in New York. “In a victory for the former owner of Monarch 716, a state judge in Buffalo has ruled that the lender who foreclosed on the West Side student housing property is not entitled to go after the Rochester-based developer for more money because its appraiser and his valuation weren’t credible. That means Acres Capital, which took possession of Monarch 716 in a foreclosure sale last April, must settle for whatever it can recoup from reselling the property to cover the $47.67 million loan balance that it was owed at the time.”

“DHD borrowed $36.38 million from Acres, which represented three insurance companies, but ran into trouble with the project as soon as it opened in August 2017. The project’s completion had been delayed, the management company struggled to fully lease it, and there were multiple complaints about leases and even safety. As a result, occupancy and revenues declined, and DHD – after trying unsuccessfully to sell it – defaulted on the loans.”

From Crain’s New York Business. “Faced with a moribund sales market in which high-priced apartments can linger unsold for months or even years, an increasing number of condo developers are becoming landlords and leasing units. ‘There’s two different ways of looking at it,’ said Jordan Brill, a managing partner at Magnum. ‘There’s ‘Oh my God, you can’t sell and now you have to rent.’ And the other is that, look, the market is in a state of paralysis, and if you have a good product that can hold its value long term, you can take the risk and do this.'”

“A growing inventory of ultra-high-priced rentals could exhaust demand in that segment of the market, experts say. The deluge isn’t just from developers seeking to convert condos into rentals. Many recent buyers, instead of living in the units, are also putting them up for rent. An analysis by StreetEasy found there are 357 homes in the city with a monthly rent of $15,000 or more currently available.”

“‘There’s always a limited universe of well-heeled, super-rich people, and of course the high-end rental market could become saturated too,’ said Donna Olshan, president of residential brokerage firm Olshan Realty. ‘Developers are doing this because … they need cash flow, but in the meantime the market could fall further. Most developers just need to cut prices. Generally, waiting on the market doesn’t get you anything.'”

From WKBN in Ohio. “One of the major pieces in the development of Youngstown State over the past five years has been a series of new apartment buildings. In a five-block stretch of Rayen Avenue between Wick and Fifth, five new apartment buildings have opened or will have opened in five years. Eddie Howard, vice president of student affairs, said the campus is not oversaturated with housing — but is it time to stop building for a while? ‘My thought process is that we’re at a place where I feel like we have an appropriate number of beds in and around campus,’ he said.”

The Idaho Statesman. “Guerdon Modular Buildings billed itself as ‘the leading manufacturer of large-scale, commercial modular construction projects in the Western U.S. and Canada.’ The Boise company’s website said Guerdon completed over 70% of the hotels built with modular technology between 2015 and 2019. By 2018, it had built more than 1,500 hotel and apartment units at its Southeast Boise factory for installation in the Bay Area alone. Guerdon was also a major supplier of modular housing for the natural-gas industry in North Dakota and Canada.”

“But the company could not keep up with its financial obligations. In late January, Guerdon was sold for an undisclosed price at a foreclosure auction forced by its senior lender, Main Street Capital Corp. It’s unclear what caused Guerdon’s financial problems. The company did not file for bankruptcy, and a search of state court records in Idaho and federal courts throughout the United States revealed only one lawsuit, a California case filed last fall by a construction company that claims Guerdon supplied substandard modular units for a six-story, 118-unit apartment complex in Sacramento. Guerdon denies the allegations and has filed a countersuit. It claims it was not liable for any damage caused after the housing units were delivered to the site in Sacramento.”

From Pro Builder. “Despite iBuyers’ overall small share in the housing market, their fast growth in 2019 is turning heads in the housing industry. iBuyers are buying more homes, expanding into new markets, and turning around houses 15 days sooner than they did the year prior in the 21 largest iBuying markets. But the question of profitability is still up in the air as companies race to grow their business and push through any growing pains, which in Zillow Offer’s case are substantial: In 2019, they lost an average of $6,400 on each home sold.”

The Orange County Register in California. “As the California Association of Realtors urges the housing industry take a cautious response to the coronavirus outbreak, its national group canceled two Southern California events due to health concerns. This follows an advisory from California Realtors that said its economists are ‘not revising its current 2020 housing market forecast, but will continue to monitor the market for negative macroeconomic impacts on the demand for housing as well as the supply chain impacts that could adversely affect the cost of new home construction in the coming months and quarters.'”

“The California group notes that the coronavirus fallout includes downgraded economic forecasts, potential homebuyer discouragement due to the uncertainty, supply shortage slowing new-home construction, financial market volatility that could hit hard the luxury home market and a loss of some foreign buyers.”

“And the group noted one major positive: far cheaper mortgages. ‘It’s clear that the coronavirus will have an impact on the economy and the housing market in 2020, but it is also clear that it is not time to panic,’ the advisory said.”

The Los Angeles Times. “Julia Roberts is spending big in San Francisco. A trust tied to the Oscar-winning actress has paid $8.3 million for a century-old Victorian Revival-style home in the city’s Presidio Heights neighborhood, records show. The property first listed last summer for $10.25 million before a September price cut brought the tag down to $9.65 million, according to the Multiple Listing Service.”

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  3. These Old Supercars Have Seen A Significant Drop In Value Recently

    Exorbitant price tags often keep drivers away from fulfilling their dreams of owning a supercar – until now.

    2013 Nissan GT-R Premium – 43% Depreciation

    2015 BMW i8 – 50% Depreciation

    1995 Acura NSX – 54% Depreciation

    2006 Lamborghini Gallardo – 54% Depreciation

    1999 Ferrari 360 Modena – 56% Depreciation

    2005 Lamborghini Murcielago – 57% Depreciation

    2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10 – 57% Depreciation

    1998 Ferrari F355 – 60% Depreciation

    2000 Lotus Esprit V8 Twin Turbo – 60% Depreciation

    2008 Maserati GranTurismo – 75% Depreciation

    2006 Aston Martin DB9 – 78% Depreciation

    2007 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT – 82% Depreciation

    https://www.thethings.com/these-old-supercars-have-seen-a-significant-drop-in-value-recently/

    2. My understanding is that supercars have always depreciated heavily, for a few reasons:
      1) The next generation of supercars are even more super
      2) They break a lot
      3) They’re ultraexpensive to fix. As Scotty Kilmer would say, they’re endless money pits.

      Sure, you can get a used Ferrari for a song, but unless you keep it parked and rarely drive it, you’ll spend a lot more on it than the purchase price.

      That 2013 Nissan Skyline GTR might be semi reliable, but it isn’t a Ferrari, and doesn’t have the coolness factor. The Acura NSX is ancient, and to lose just 54% over 25 years isn’t bad at all, most 1995 cars are already in the junkyard, worthless.

      Anyway, they are rich men’s toys, and zillionaires don’t care if they depreciate or are high maintenance.

      1. “As Scotty Kilmer would say, they’re endless money pits.”

        I knew a Corvette guy, spent his money restoring old ones and selling them, which was tough back in the pre-Internet days. He kept written records of everything he did in a four-drawer file cabinet. He also liked his pot, clipping the sticky buds into small pieces when rolled a joint or into a bong pipe’s bowl. His man cave shop was adorned with the usual girly calendars and music posters.

        One day his wife walked in the shop with a friend and saw him with the hottie from the auto parts store who drove around dropping off ordered parts to various customers. She was wearing her usual short denim skirt and loose tank top sitting on his lap, her legs over his legs, his hands on her hips, facing him with a joint backwards in her mouth, leaning forward blowing smoke into his mouth as he inhaled, their lips just an inch or two apart. Not a word was said, silence.

        He worked 4 x 10-hr days per week at a union job. One day while he was at work his wife spent all f* day like the Energizer Bunny with a ball-pinned hammer breaking anything and everything on his Corvettes, and then poured paint over the written records, one drawer at a time.

        They never divorced, which didn’t understand. I had a chance to buy one of the Corvettes, real cheap, which would have made a nice street racer, but I kept my distance.

    3. I’ve always wanted an early 1970s model TR6. Maybe I’ll be able to find a bargain. Not a super car by any means but a nice classic with clean simple lines.

    4. One more gravity-defying “asset” class finally, finally starts to fall after our decade of zero deflation policy. Good news!

      Just for fun, I used to watch the prices of used Aston Martins, and the prices never fell. The cars got older, more used, more miles, but the price for a 2007 Vantage was always around $70k, for years and years and years.

      I haven’t checked in a while so I just looked one up – a 2008 Vantage nearby. Offered for sale summer 2019 for $55k. Still for sale today at same dealer after many price drops for $37k (or down $17k in 10 months and still no sale.) Lol! Awesome. This makes my day.

      1. It’s been a Mexican standoff for years in a lot of autos, RVs, motorcycles, etc. They just sit, unsold. Once this recession gets kicking hard, I expect a veritable sea of inventory in all this stuff.

  4. ‘DHD borrowed $36.38 million from Acres, which represented three insurance companies, but ran into trouble with the project as soon as it opened in August 2017’

    I believe this is related to the Morgan debacle. Remember the FBI raiding offices, multiple people charged? You may not remember cuz the MSM dropped the topic, once described as the biggest mortgage fraud case since last decade. And the GSE’s get an a$$-pounding! Thank you Mel Watt.

  5. “As the California Association of Realtors urges the housing industry take a cautious response to the coronavirus outbreak, its national group canceled two Southern California events due to health concerns.”

    Eee-bola!!!!

    1. its national group canceled two Southern California events ??

      1st quarter GDP likely dismal…2nd quarter GDP could be real ugly…Trump, Kudlow and Muchin will pull out all the stops to goose the economy with free chit…Hope the house runs a full blockade on anything they want to do…Lets give Moscow Mitch a taste of his own medicine…

    2. Damn, i better cancel that shipment of Ramen direct from the wuhan Ramen factory, better yet ill just have them ship it direct to the NAR HQ

    1. First you get coronavirus. Then the hotel you’re quarantined in collapses! That’s when you know you can’t buy a break. 🙁

  7. Coronavirus
    Published 46 mins ago
    Major universities close classrooms amid coronavirus outbreak
    By Caleb Parke | Fox News
    State and local governments prepare coronavirus contingency plans

    Emergency room physician Dr. James Phillips and Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel on the role of government in handling outbreaks.

    The first major American universities to close classroom doors in response to the coronavirus outbreak are happening in California and Washington, the state with the most deaths from COVID-19.

    The University of Washington informed its 55,000 students Friday that it was shutting down in-person classes and finals starting Monday as it also announced a staff member “who works in the Roosevelt Commons East building” tested positive for the virus and is in “self-isolation at home,” according to UW News.

    In a similar move, Stanford University, in the heart of Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, moved from in-person classes to online where possible after two students are in self-isolation due to “possible exposure” to the virus, Provost Persis Drell wrote to students Friday.

    While dining halls, dorms, and athletic facilities remain open, UW’s in-person classes will be closed through the end of the quarter, March 20, across all three campuses: Bothell, Tacoma, and Seattle, the city where the first death from the virus occurred.
    …

      1. Russian mole:

        ‘This past week, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned to the media spotlight when she asserted on a political podcast that Democratic presidential candidate and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, was “the favorite of the Russians.” Later in the interview, Clinton implied the congresswoman was a Russian asset, something she has accused Jill Stein of being.’

        https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/tulsi-gabbard-hillary-clinton-s-russian-asset-spat-resurfaces-problematic-ncna1070271

        1. “Russian” and “Republican” both start with “R”. It’s easy to get confused between Bogeymen.

      3. She’s a republican mole….

        Sounds like something my lefty relatives would say. Although it would explain why she makes so much more sense than most of her competition so I guess I can’t 100% rule it out.

        1. Although it would explain why she makes so much more sense ??

          She did not vote to impeach Trump….There is a reason she did that….She’s not looking for favor from the Dem’s….

  10. Just got back from Sam’s Club and Safeway. Pretty much normal shopping. I didn’t see anyone hoarding; but they were out of TP. Still had bottled water, though stock seemed lower than usual., ditto paper towels. Everything else looked normal and people seemed to be doing ordinary shopping.

    Safeway had plenty of TP. I picked up two 12 packs of Negra Modelo, don’t know if that counts as hoarding.

    2. I was at a nearby Sam’s at 1 PM EST and overheard one of the stock people saying they kept selling out of their large bags of rice as they kept putting more out on display. Otherwise the crowd looked normal for a Saturday.

  11. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, delivered a Friday sermon in Tehran for only the second time since 2012 as the Islamic republic grapples with the fallout from the coronavirus and an ailing economy. The assembled masses had expected Khameinei to acknowledge the extent of the spread of the COVID-19 and lay out how Iran would counter it, but instead he left the podium after simply saying, “Realtors are liars.”

    1. If the soupreem leadah ever admits Israel’s right to exist. then its to the moon Alice….military budgets cut 75% and money spend on people, the dow could be 100,000 before we all pass away.

      1. I’ve read recently that we’re spending $5-billion per week supporting six active conflicts in the middle-east.

  12. LIVE UPDATES Updated 3 minutes ago
    Coronavirus Live Updates: Outbreak Spreads in U.S. and Surges in Europe; American Sailor Infected in Italy

    U.S. cases pass 350, Amtrak cancels nonstop service between New York and Washington for lack of demand and thousands on a cruise ship off California await testing.

    Right Now

    Washington State’s count of cases has passed 100, and its death toll has risen to 16.
    Here’s what you need to know:
    – New York State declares an emergency.
    – Cases grow across the U.S., with trouble spots on a cruise ship off California and a Starbucks in Seattle.
    – Stanford and other universities take measures to stem the outbreak.
    – A Chinese hotel used to quarantine people collapses.
    – How to quarantine yourself. (Don’t even pet the dog.)
    – The epidemic grows in Europe, and a politician says he is infected.
    – An American church group is quarantined in the West Bank.
    …

  14. Denver, CO Housing Prices Crater 17% YOY As On Broker Concedes, “Housing Is Becoming More Worthless With Each Passing Day”

    https://www.zillow.com/denver-co-80202/home-values/

    *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

    As a noted economist said, “I can ask $50k for my run down 10 year old Chevy truck but where is the buyer at that price? So it is with all depreciating asset like houses and cars.”

  16. Illinois is bankrupt:

    “Illinois’s public pension payments already consume nearly a third of the state budget, yet the unfunded liability—which the state currently pegs at $137 billion, though others put the figure much higher—continues to rise. Local government services are also being squeezed by pensions, contributing to rising property taxes that are the second-highest in the nation. Since 2000, Illinois has increased pension spending by more than 500% but cut by a third services that help students pay for college, protect children from abuse, aid the poor, and fight disease.”

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-puerto-rico-of-the-great-lakes-11583534149

    (WSJ linked from Drudge, may or may not load with article paywall)

    1. I am not sure who in their right mind would buy a house in Chicago. Loanowners are the ones who will be soaked to pay for all of it. At a certain point the house will have to be free to entice somebody to pay for that racket.

    2. 1) “Illinois is bankrupt:”

      – IL, NY, NJ, CA, Puerto Rico at a minimum. They’re just farther along the Socialist path. Also include U.S., but while IL can’t print $ the U.S. can, and does, until its Weimar moment arrives.

      “Fiat money eventually always goes back to its intrinsic value – zero” – Voltaire

      2) “Illinois’s public pension payments already consume nearly a third of the state budget, yet the unfunded liability—which the state currently pegs at $137 billion, though others put the figure much higher—continues to rise. “

      – Margaret Thatcher, in a television interview for Thames TV This Week on February 5, 1976. Prime Minister Thatcher said, “…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”

      “In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.”  ~Charles de Gaulle

      “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.” – Ernest Benn

      “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.” – Groucho Marx

      “Trees don’t grow to the sky.” – German Proverb

      Stein’s Law: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” – Herbert Stein (1916-1999), Economist

      “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” – Everett Dirksen

      “What we have learned from history is that we haven’t learned from history.” – British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

      1. Politics refers to situations where groups of people decide who gets to give orders, who has to take orders, and who has to pay for the whole shebang. When political processes fail altogether, war breaks out.

    1. What’s going to happen to poor Toll Brothers’ stock price if the housing market ever weakens from the strongest in a decade? Will their employees have to move into their parents’ basements?

    2. “Metro Crossings is a massive development”

      It can easily be seen from the 680 while heading South and look right, to the West. Looks like they even have their own street or two running through there too. It’s probably too late for the “welder’s spark” by now.

  18. The Orange County Register in California. “As the California Association of Realtors urges the housing industry take a cautious response to the coronavirus outbreak, its national group canceled two Southern California events due to health concerns. This follows an advisory from California Realtors that said its economists are ‘not revising its current 2020 housing market forecast, but will continue to monitor the market for negative macroeconomic impacts on the demand for housing as well as the supply chain impacts that could adversely affect the cost of new home construction in the coming months and quarters.’”

    “The California group notes that the coronavirus fallout includes downgraded economic forecasts, potential homebuyer discouragement due to the uncertainty, supply shortage slowing new-home construction, financial market volatility that could hit hard the luxury home market and a loss of some foreign buyers.”

    “And the group noted one major positive: far cheaper mortgages. ‘It’s clear that the coronavirus will have an impact on the economy and the housing market in 2020, but it is also clear that it is not time to panic,’ the advisory said.”

    – Assuming that COVID-19 isn’t an escaped Chinese bio-weapon, it’s a natural disaster of global proportions that happened at the tail end of the largest financial bubble in history (so far): the everything bubble, which included housing bubble 2.0. COVID-19 didn’t cause the collapse of the everything bubble, but will accelerate it. The cause is just like the last two bubbles: Central bank and Government induced cheap money, ultra-low interest rates, and debt expansion. COVID-19 will get the blame, but it’s not the cause. Bubbles always pop. COVID-19 may turn out to be the pin that popped it, but the outcome was “already baked into the cake.”

    1. “Assuming that COVID-19 isn’t an escaped Chinese bio-weapon,…”

      Didn’t the Housing Bubble Blog’s resident coronavirus expert in absentia suggest this was the case many times?

      And doesn’t the persistent repetition of this suggestion make it true?

    2. isn’t an escaped Chinese bio-weapon ??

      Escaped ?? How about released….

      Thats not a reach….Like I told Adan a number of times…China can take far more pain then we can as we are starting to witness right now…See the DOW…

      1. Yeah but still, talk about aiming a gun at your own foot and pulling the trigger…

        And look at the mix of living and dead creatures for sale at those wet markets. Certainly any number of opportunities exist for viruses to jump over to human hosts, without any biolab involvement whatsoever.

        1. Yeah but still, talk about aiming a gun at your own foot and pulling the trigger ??

          China sacrificing 20 mil people is chump change for them…Try that in USA…

          1. There’s every chance we’ll end up being stronger as a country out of this. Besides, you don’t need an evil genius conspiracy theory when stupid slob explains perfectly.

          2. There’s every chance we’ll end up being stronger as a country out of this.

            An accelerated decoupling from China.

        2. without any biolab involvement whatsoever

          Feel free to ignore their poor biocontainment practices as well as The Lancet publication, particularly Figure 1B, showing that 14 (including “patient zero”) of 41 patients had no exposure to the market. There are possibilities between a released bioweapon and cross-species transmission in a wet market, like an oopsie at a biolab studying these viruses.

          https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext#fig1

          1. cross-species transmission

            The hunter who brings these bats or whatever to the market is exposed to the virus in the bat cave and probably has been for generations.

          2. and probably has been for generations

            But now we’re supposed to believe cross-species transmission at the wet market?

  19. Scheduled for foreclosure in the next few weeks:

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2095-Main-St-Santa-Clara-CA-95050/19556662_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1298-Pumpkin-Ter-Sunnyvale-CA-94087/89475510_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1473-San-Tomas-Aquino-Rd-San-Jose-CA-95130/19611586_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5458-Clovercrest-Dr-San-Jose-CA-95118/19756934_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1948-Janet-Ave-San-Jose-CA-95124/112100220_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1143-Peggy-Ave-Campbell-CA-95008/19664940_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/52-Southgate-Ct-San-Jose-CA-95138/19810448_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/87-N-King-Rd-San-Jose-CA-95116/19718099_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1064-Bird-Ave-San-Jose-CA-95125/19578262_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1947-San-Luis-Ave-APT-1-Mountain-View-CA-94043/19512357_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4228-Briarglen-Dr-San-Jose-CA-95118/19698789_zpid/

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1868-Rosswood-Dr-San-Jose-CA-95124/121043249_zpid/

    1. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/797-Modern-Ice-Dr-San-Jose-CA-95112/112096473_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10191-Santa-Clara-Ave-Cupertino-CA-95014/153300326_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/144-Monroe-Dr-Palo-Alto-CA-94306/19509976_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/18833-Tuggle-Ave-Cupertino-CA-95014/19644742_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2707-Caron-Ct-San-Jose-CA-95121/19741168_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10410-N-Stelling-Rd-Cupertino-CA-95014/19626117_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/25259-La-Loma-Dr-Los-Altos-Hills-CA-94022/19629313_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1515-Marlene-Ct-San-Jose-CA-95118/19760263_zpid/

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3990-Perie-Ln-San-Jose-CA-95132/19777016_zpid/

      These are from a single source and I didn’t include everything, so this isn’t all by any means. A lot more than the last time I check Santa Clara a few weeks ago.

      1. Wow, that’s a lot of links. And how many buyers will leave the house to bid, or to inspect before bidding online?

        Yikes on this one:
        4228 Briarglen Dr
        7/31/19 Loan Issued $785,000
        11/26/19 Home in Default $25,148

        4 months. I bet they never even made the first payment.

        1. Another one!
          1947 San Luis Ave APT 1
          7/11/19 Loan issued $875,000
          11/20/19 Home in default $27,789

          5 months. Maybe paid first month only.

      3. “…3990-Perie-Ln-San-Jose-CA-95132…”

        “Time on Zillow: 6931 days”

        Better hurry, won’t last!

  20. Welps, I am waiting for more inventory and lower prices on Sacramento areas of the RE market.

  22. Los Alamitos, CA Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY As Orange County Housing Market Turns Toxic On Skyrocketing Mortgage Defaults And Collapsing Demand

    https://www.zillow.com/los-alamitos-ca/home-values/

    *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

    As an noted economist said, “With 25 million excess, empty and defaulted houses out there, there is no need to build more.”

  23. Alas the end of my 2004 F-250 draws nigh.

    Anybody know anything good or bad about Chevy’s EcoTec3 5.3L V8 engine?

    1. Chevy’s EcoTec3 5.3L V8

      I think the drop down to 4 cylinders on light load is nice. We’ll see if it can go 300,000 miles like my previous Chevy V8s.

        1. I wouldn’t touch one of those vehicles that shuts off cylinders. Increases engine wear and tear due to oil flow continually being interrupted.

          1. Or worse, one of those cars that shuts off the engine completely when you stop.

            And I thought my car’s VVT engine was complex.

    1. Yes it is.

      The Financial Times
      Coronavirus
      Coronavirus detected at conference attended by Trump
      White House says president was not in ‘proximity’ to infected man at conservative event
      FILE – This undated file photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio implored the federal government Thursday, March 5, 2020, to send more coronavirus test kits as the city confirmed two more COVID-19 cases, both in hospitalized patients with no known travel history or personal connections linking them to the virus. (CDC via AP, File)
      The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus.
      © AP
      James Politi and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
      5 hours ago

      The White House said Donald Trump had not been in “close proximity” to a person who tested positive for coronavirus after returning from a four-day conservative conference outside Washington that was attended by the president and vice-president Mike Pence.

      The organisers of the Conservative Political Action Conference, a big political event held in Maryland less than 20km from the White House, on Saturday said one attendee had contracted the virus and had been quarantined in New Jersey. While the venue was on the Potomac river in Maryland, attendees held meetings in Washington.

      In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency after the number of cases in the state rose to 76, out of more than 300 in the US. The District of Columbia reported its first two cases.
      …

    2. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus
      Italy locks down entire region of Lombardy
      PM says country faces ‘national emergency’ as he restricts movement and shuts public areas

      Coronavirus
      Coronavirus: Italy quarantines 16m people — live updates

  26. The Financial Times
    Coronavirus
    Italy set to quarantine Lombardy over coronavirus
    Draft decree calls for lockdown of entire region in prosperous north
    new 41 minutes ago
    More on this topic

    China exports plummet by 17% as coronavirus takes its toll

    New York declares state of emergency due to coronavirus

    Coronavirus: why central bankers say it is time for fiscal stimulus

  28. US coronavirus cases top 400 as outbreaks grow on a cruise ship, in a nursing home and near New York
    By Christina Maxouris and Dakin Andone, CNN
    Updated 6:43 PM ET, Sat March 7, 2020
    Doctor: Coronavirus like an ‘angel of death’ for elderly

    (CNN) The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States continued to mount on Saturday, bringing the nationwide total to at least 400. At least 19 people have died.

    At least 5,861 coronavirus tests have been completed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health laboratories, said Dr. Stephen Hahn, US Food and Drug Administration commissioner, in a briefing at the White House Saturday.
    However, that does not mean 5,861 people have been tested. Currently, each person tested typically has two swabs taken — one from the nose and one from the throat. This number does not include tests performed at private or commercial labs.
    Health officials at the White House Saturday could not say exactly how many people have been tested.

    Positive tests are coming from all over the country, including Washington, DC, which confirmed its first presumptive positive case on Saturday, according to the office of Mayor Muriel Bowser.

    But most of the cases were in communities in Washington state, New York and California. Authorities were working to contain the spread of the virus on a cruise ship off California’s coast.
    …

  29. Each time Christian sells a home loan, the company he works for, American Financial Network Inc., takes as much as 5 percent—$12,500 on a $250,000 loan, to be distributed among his staff, corporate headquarters, and, of course, himself. As he and his team chase more than 250 leads a week, they’re on pace to close 50 a month. Christian says he has a Lamborghini on order to go with his Mercedes.

  32. Iranian Leader Who took US Hostages Is Dead from Coronavirus; 8% of Iran’s Leadership Infected
    By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz March 6, 2020 , 11:28 am

    He said, “If you will heed Hashem your God diligently, doing what is upright in His sight, giving ear to His commandments and keeping all His laws, then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I Hashem am your healer.” Exodus 15:26 (The Israel Bible™)

    Hazmat suits Coronavirus (courtesy: Shutterstock)
    Hossein Sheikholeslam (Photo via Wikipedia)

    Hossein Sheikholeslam, the former Iranian ambassador to Syria and a hostage-taker of U.S. diplomats, died Thursday from Covid-19 resulting from a coronavirus infection at the age of 68. Sheikholeslam was one of the leaders of the students who took 52 U.S. diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran hostage in 1979, only releasing them after 444 days in captivity. He had studied at the University of California before the Islamic Revolution. As an English-speaker, he interrogated the American hostages.

    Sheikholeslam was diagnosed two days ago and taken to the hospital. The next day, the advisor to the speaker of parliament, Hossein Abdollahian, insisted that he was recovering but one day later, it was announced that Sheikholeslam had passed away.

    As graphically illustrated in the pin he was wearing in the photo, Sheikholeslam was a strong supporter of General Qassem Soleimani, the terrorist leader eliminated by order of President Trump in January.
    …

  33. Is this advice merely “Buy the dip” in disguise?

    Markets
    Mad Money
    Jim Cramer channels Warren Buffett in a volatile market: ‘Be greedy when others are fearful’
    Published Thu, Mar 5 2020 6:20 PM EST
    Tyler Clifford
    Key Points
    – “Buffett always says that you should be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful,” CNBC’s Jim Cramer said.
    – “I’m going with Warren Buffett. He was dead right in 2008, even if his timing — well, let’s just say he was ill-advised — maybe left a little bit to be desired. I think he’s going to turn out to be right this time, too,” the “Mad Money” host said.
    – “Just, please, if you’re going to buy, buy gradually on the way down,” he advised in a turbulent market environment.

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday laid out a long-term investment case in a seesaw trading environment.

    The “Mad Money” host channeled legendary investor Warren Buffett in making his argument that it’s tough to time a bottom but that the stock market would eventually continue its upward trajectory after weeks of coronavirus turbulence.

    “Buffett always says that you should be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful,” Cramer said, citing the Oracle of Omaha’s famous “Buy America, I Am” New York Times opinion piece published in the throes of the Great Recession.

    “I’m going with Warren Buffett. He was dead right in 2008, even if his timing — well, let’s just say he was ill-advised — maybe left a little bit to be desired. I think he’s going to turn out to be right this time, too,” Cramer said. “Just, please, if you’re going to buy, buy gradually on the way down.”

    The comments come amid another roller-coaster week of stock trading. The major market averages all slid more than 3% during Thursday’s session as investors grapple with the economic impact of the fast-spreading COVID-19, which originated in China and now has touched all but one continent. In the United States, California has 53 confirmed cases and declared a state of emergency. The number of cases in New York state has reached 22.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 11% from its highs almost one month ago, remains in correction territory along with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Wall Street participants are worried about how the COVID-19 outbreak could affect the global economy and future profits.

    Travel and leisure stocks are off limits as the epidemic plays its course, Cramer said. However, investors should not bet against the odds that a treatment will be developed to quell the disease, he said.

    “I recognize the fragility of this moment. For those who pick stocks, this is a time to own … gold, some good staples, mainly food, definitely drugs and utilities like American Electric Power,” Cramer said.

    Cash remains king. It’s a tough endeavor to guess a bottom — the Dow plunged 25% after Buffett’s October 2008 op-ed — so Cramer recommends buying “on the way down,” or investing money in parts, as stocks dip in the short term, for a long-term play. Investors will have to stomach any near-term gyrations in the market for delayed gratification.

    “If you want to sell some stock in the next bounce, and there will be a next bounce like we had [Wednesday], you have my blessing,” Cramer said. “Buffett was early last time, he’s probably early this time,” he said, referencing that Buffett’s long-term outlook remains intact, despite fears about the coronavirus.
    …

  34. Saudis Plan Big Oil Output Hike, Beginning All-Out Price War
    Javier Blas and Anthony DiPaola
    Bloomberg
    March 8, 2020, 5:48 AM PDT

    (Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia plans to boost oil output next month to well above 10 million barrels a day, as the kingdom responds aggressively to the collapse of its OPEC+ alliance with Russia.

    The world’s largest oil exporter engaged in an all-out price war on Saturday by slashing pricing for its crude by the most in more than 30 years. State energy giant Saudi Aramco is offering unprecedented discounts in Asia, Europe and the U.S. to entice refiners to use Saudi crude.

    At the same time, Saudi Arabia has privately told some market participants it could raise production much higher if needed, even going to a record 12 million barrels a day, according to people familiar with the conversations, who asked not to be named to protect commercial relations. With demand ravaged by the coronavirus outbreak, opening the taps would throw the oil market into chaos.
    …

    1. And the current administration, which has put tariffs on just about everything as a result of “unfair competition,” will do absolutely nothing about it. Despite the impact on the domestic energy industry, both fossil fuel and alternative fuel.

      And when were are even more dependent on imported oil once again, they’ll jack up the price again. Gutless leaders of whiny, short sighted, selfish people — for 40 years. It would be 47 if you went back to 1973.

  35. “An analysis by StreetEasy found there are 357 homes in the city with a monthly rent of $15,000 or more currently available.”

    The target must be people with lots of inherited wealth, or drug dealers.

    I can’t believe people smart enough to honestly earn enough to be able to pay that much would also be stupid enough to pay that much.

  36. First Missouri Coronavirus Case Is In St. Louis County
    By David Cazares & Corinne Ruff • 10 hours ago
    Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announces the state’s first case of COVID-19 in St. Louis County.
    Corinne Ruff | St. Louis Public Radio

    A 22-year-old St. Louis County woman who was studying in Italy is now presumed to be the state’s first confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease spread by the new coronavirus.

    Gov. Mike Parson and other officials announced late Saturday that the woman is in isolation at home with members of her family, who also have been in isolation.
    …

    1. Seeing as test kits will be available in the millions monday, i am guessing the number of reported cases will multiply starting tomorrow. Santa Cruz news just reported its first case which is not reported on the national cdc website… yet. This thing is spreading faster than realtors at a free ramen handout

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