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The Longer You Wait, The Lower The Price That You May Need To Settle For

A report from Toronto Storeys in Canada. “Zoocasa used data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) to compare how median prices changed between February and April 2020 for 35 neighbourhoods. For the City of Toronto as a whole, the median condo apartment price declined $65,000 (-10%) between February and April to reach $574,000. There were two neighbourhoods that saw median prices drop more than $100,000, with Mount Pleasant East experiencing the largest decline, with prices falling $131,500 (-18%) to settle at $617,500. In the area that borders Regent Park, St. James Town, and Corktown, the median price fell -14% ($103,400) to $611,600.”

From Narcity in Canada. “The Dorset Park and Kennedy Park areas have condos going for $396,250 as a median. Home prices there have gone down 10% in just two months, with a median price drop of $45,750. However, condos aren’t the only ones seeing price drops. According to a study done by Toronto’s Regional Real Estate Board in April, the average price of a detached Toronto home is down 9.1%.”

The Daily Mail in the UK. “Desperate sellers are dropping the prices of their homes after a glut of properties flooded onto websites today as Britain’s housing market was reopened. Some 2,150 properties have been added to RightMove in England, Wales and Scotland over the past 24 hours – a huge increase on the preceding days – – while many properties are now being reduced in a bid to shift them quickly.”

The Irish Times. “The number of homes available to rent across the State has jumped by nearly 40 per cent as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to property website Daft.ie. This sharp increase in supply came as average rents in April fell by 2.1 per cent when compared with March. The increase in available properties is said to have been triggered by landlords withdrawing their rentals from short-term listing sites such as Airbnb and offering them on Daft.ie instead.”

“Pat Davitt, chief executive of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers said the demand and supply curve in residential lettings was ‘changing utterly, particularly in high demand urban areas.'”

From Fin 24 in South Africa. “There was already a buyer’s market in SA before the coronavirus pandemic, due to existing economic pressures. Supply is exceeding demand, giving buyers more options and negotiating power. ‘Lockdown deals’ include sales at prices ranging from R600 000 to R35 million in areas from Still Bay and Hermanus to Benoni, Hyde Park and Pretoria, says Berry Everitt, CEO of Chas Everitt.”

“‘Provided your asking price is market related, any offer close to your asking price should be considered. You can always make a counteroffer if you sense that the buyer might come back with a slightly better offer…the longer you wait, the lower the price that you may need to settle for in the end,’ suggests Samuel Seeff, chair of the Seeff Property Group.”

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “One in 10 rental apartments is sitting empty in Melbourne’s Docklands and Sydney’s city centre as the country’s biggest bank warns house prices could collapse by as much as 32 per cent over three years if Australia experiences a severe economic slump. In Sydney’s CBD, the vacancy rate was 12.8 per cent over the month, meaning more than one in 10 rental homes was sitting empty, SQM Research data showed. This is double the vacancy rate at the same time last year. Ultimo’s vacant rentals quadrupled to 8.2 per cent over this period.”

“Melbourne’s Docklands recorded a 9.1 per cent vacancy rate, triple the measure at the same time in 2019, and Southbank had a 13 per cent vacancy rate. Brisbane CBD’s vacancies reached 11.3 per cent over the month. In Melbourne’s Southbank, where the vacancy rate jumped from 5 to 13 per cent, rents have started to drop by up to 20 per cent in some pockets, Belle Property South Melbourne partner Loic Mamet said.”

“‘We’ve had a massive reduction in demand as not as many people are looking, but also a huge increase in the amount of properties available,’ Mr Mamet said.”

From News.com.au in Australia. “The government lockdown and shutting of international borders has led to investors abandoning Airbnb properties, causing the vacancy rate in Sydney’s CBD to surge to 13.8 per cent in March, according to new data from SQM Research. Brisbane and Melbourne’s central suburbs are emptying too, with the number of established rental properties currently unoccupied rising to 11.3 and 7.6 per cent respectively.”

“SQM’s managing director Louis Christopher said rental prices had already fallen as a result of deteriorating market conditions and tenants should be emboldened to seek a reduction, depending on the location. ‘They can ask for a rental reduction and if they don’t get it then they can have a look at what’s in the market.’ The crippled tourism market combined with rising unemployment has created a ‘massive oversupply issue,’ Mr Christopher said. ‘There’s been a large number of Airbnb properties that are now trying their hand at the longer term leasing market because there’s no international tourists coming through, let alone domestic tourists.'”

From Good Returns New Zealand. “CoreLogic’s Kelvin Davidson: Based on a simple ranking across a range of indicators, Queenstown’s market looks the shakiest. Unfortunately for Queenstown, it has nearly 20% of its output coming from accommodation and food services. Another potential fault line for property markets is the penetration of Airbnb. On this measure, Queenstown again stands out as a ‘risky’ area, with around 20% of its dwelling stock listed on Airbnb. Rotorua and Nelson also have relatively large Airbnb markets.”

The South China Morning Post. “A Hong Kong developer has suffered the biggest loss on a land sale in the city’s history, offloading a residential plot at Kai Tak to raise cash to help it weather a market slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Goldin Financial Holdings, controlled by billionaire Pan Sutong, has agreed to sell the plot at the site of the former international airport for an estimated loss of HK$2.57 billion (US$331.56 million).”

“The company’s pullback represents a damning verdict on the outlook for the market, with valuations pummeled by months of anti-government protests, before the outbreak of coronavirus this year darkened the gloom. The former airport strip has now been associated with several deals that burned developers seeking a slice of action in the world’s most expensive real estate market.”

“HNA is another developer to incur losses from reselling plots at Kai Tak to raise much-needed cash. Last February, Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group, the listed unit of the Hainan-based HNA Group, sold Area 1L Site 2 to Wheelock Properties for HK$6.89 billion, representing a loss of HK$550 million, reflecting the slowdown of the residential property market in Hong Kong, according to a company filing.”

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This Post Has 77 Comments

  2. ‘triggered by landlords withdrawing their rentals from short-term listing…the demand and supply curve in residential lettings was ‘changing utterly, particularly in high demand urban areas’

    Again, the most expensive stuff.

  4. clip from Irish Times in the main post:

    how the heck were there so much airbnb – where do all the tourists come from?

    so going forward – is there going to be a real market in the (very nice) RV rental market?
    —
    The increase in available properties is said to have been triggered by landlords withdrawing their rentals from short-term listing sites such as Airbnb and offering them on Daft.ie instead.

    In its latest quarterly report on the rental market here, Daft said there were 3,800 properties available to rent on its website on May 1st, almost 40 per cent up on the 2,700 properties listed on the same day last year.

    While rents fell on a monthly basis, they were up 3.8 per cent in the first quarter year on year, although this did mark the lowest rate of inflation recorded since late 2012.

  5. I am waiting for nice areas of Sacramento to drop in price and inventory to rise. I don’t have 500k for a shack.

      1. (ahem)

        Come pay me a visit.

        (And bring with you an up-to-date list of marketable body parts.)

    2. Generally the people buying at this nosebleed price level in recent years were those handed $500,000+ government guaranteed subprime loans from FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc.

      Who is getting loans of that size in the COVID-19 falling knife real estate era?

    3. “I am waiting for nice areas of Sacramento…”

      The nice areas are called Davis to the west, and Folsom to the east.

    4. Doing the same in Sonoma Co., figure prices could easily be cut in half and be back to 2009 levels. If that happens don’t wait too long to make a move…in retrospect I should have bought again in 2009 but I waited until 2011 and was competing with legions of 100% cash flippers and speculators so my preapproved mortgage, perfect credit, good job, big down payment etc. were useless as sellers will nearly always go with the all cash bid. On a happier note sold my last place in early 2007 just before the bubble popped thanks to the HBB…

    5. Northern Central Valley of California has been over-priced for far, far too long. Family household incomes have not supported the ridiculous run up in prices. There will be affordable prices for those who are patient.

    1. You do know that Loomis is NOT the Sacramento area I hope, right? It is like 30 miles away.

    1. I can’t provide details, but my loverly wife managed to get her hair cut today. Hopefully the stlylist won’t get arrested for trying to earn a living!

      1. Aw gee….People need to go back to the “hippie” days when women had hair to their waist. and real men had a pony tail not a wussie man bun.

      2. A friend of mine’s DIL had a stylist come to her house last week.
        Some people are still getting things done.

        1. My understanding is that, depending on the state, a stylist could lose her/his license for doing that.

          1. Years ago I cleaned high rise windows, and of course I had to get a contractor’s license. It seemed like they were really interested in the bookkeeping; they wanted their taxes! But if I got stiffed on a job they couldn’t care less.

          2. I’ve always thought that it was funny that an engineer need not be licensed but to cut someone’s hair you have to pass a test (which I am told is easy to fail) to get a license.

      3. managed to get her hair cut

        My husband and I did as well, although we were attempting to get our son’s hair cut on the two visits with his stylist. Her business is really hurting. She doesn’t qualify for the small business assistance programs and she’s unable to pay rent on her shop.

      1. It truly boggles the sane mind contemplating this global pandemic started because of semi-superstitious, fanatical adherence to idiotic, culturally entrenched traditions.

        “Gather-round youngin’s, Uncle Ping’s whipping up a batch of deep-fried-bat-on-stick!!”

        1. Gang-bangers never drop their “mark” with a Sig Sauer P225; it’s always some cheap schitt number.

    2. Beijing’s threats

      The CCP has no morals. We knew this 60 years ago. Any country that put themselves in a compromising position with them were taking a known risk for profit. If you don’t like being bullied, lied to, cheated, infected, cut your losses. You (we) will be better off.

      1. The same treasonous globalists who bankrolled the Bolshevik Revolution in 2017 were behind the wholesale transfer of our manufacturing base to China. They knew full well the nature of their creatures in the Russian and Chinese Communist Parties.

        2. Wow Boo Randy, such bald faced anti-semitism. In a lesser poster that might be acceptable, but an avatar of your stature? That’s just beneath you.

      2. In the current environment any up-and-coming entrepreneur in the West that comes up with an innovative product might as well throw in the towel. As soon as they introduce their product to market, despite patenting, it’ll get reverse engineered (knocked-off) and flooded in the international market by Sharks in the East quicker than rabbits can hump. Without serious financial muscle behind you, good luck fighting that battle.

        The level of cut-throat greed and corruption in play around the globe right now is almost comical…if not the Greek Tragedy it really is. Integrity is DEAD.

        1. I knew a dude who invented a security device that you hung from a door knob, called the “Entry Alert”. He received a patent for it, and was wiped out by made in Taiwan knock offs.

  9. “Desperate sellers are dropping the prices of their homes after a glut of properties flooded onto websites today as Britain’s housing market was reopened.

    Gosh, headlines about panicked FBs trying to jettison their insanely overpriced alligators could make it hard for realtors to drum up a false sense of urgency about buy now or be priced out forever.

  10. ‘Lockdown deals’ include sales at prices ranging from R600 000 to R35 million in areas from Still Bay and Hermanus to Benoni, Hyde Park and Pretoria, says Berry Everitt, CEO of Chas Everitt.”

    No thanks. With majority-rule kleptocracies already expropriating mines and farmland for redistribution to their collectivist enforcers, as well as encouraging violence against the few remaining white farmers, any white person would be nuts to buy property in South Africa.

  11. The increase in available properties is said to have been triggered by landlords withdrawing their rentals from short-term listing sites such as Airbnb and offering them on Daft.ie instead.”

    Think of how much more reasonable rents are going to be after thousands of former AirBnB properties are auctioned off at bankruptcy liquidations.

  12. You can always make a counteroffer if you sense that the buyer might come back with a slightly better offer…

    You stick to your guns, greedheads! Don’t give that shack away! The REIC shills assure us a V-shaped recovery will be coming along any day now, so just be patient and wait for the right buyer, who will surely be lurching into your open house any day now….

  13. ‘They can ask for a rental reduction and if they don’t get it then they can have a look at what’s in the market.’ The crippled tourism market combined with rising unemployment has created a ‘massive oversupply issue,’ Mr Christopher said.

    That’s kinda the way free markets are supposed to work, isn’t it? Did you think the central bank printing party could juice asset bubbles forever?

  15. Are you concerned a voracious bear might engulf your stock market portfolio and devour your HODLings?

    1. Market Extra
      ‘Bearish engulfing’ patterns in big tech stocks and indexes raise caution flags on Wall Street
      Published: May 13, 2020 at 4:19 p.m. ET
      By Tomi Kilgore
      The intraday swing, from a rally to fresh highs to lower closes suggests momentum may now be with the bears
      Getty Images
      Referenced Symbols
      NDX
      -1.23%
      MSFT
      -1.51%
      GOOGL
      -1.95%
      FB
      -2.38%
      SPX
      -1.74%
      DJIA
      -2.17%

      A number of textbook “bearish engulfing” reversal patterns have appeared in the stock charts of large-capitalization technology companies to suggest the momentum in the tech sector may have swung from bulls to bears.

      There are other technical warning signals that warn investors to beware buying on a dip, at least in the short term.

      For candlestick chart followers, a bearish engulfing is a two-day pattern that starts with a new closing high for a recent uptrend. The next day starts with a gap higher at the open to a new high, before an intraday reversal to close below the previous day’s open.
      …

    2. Poor Uncle Warren!

      The Tell
      Warren Buffett’s ‘outdated view’: One longtime fan is considering dumping his entire Berkshire stake
      Published: May 12, 2020 at 5:21 p.m. ET
      By Shawn Langlois
      David Merkel has already scaled back his Berkshire Hathaway position
      Warren Buffett is sitting on lots of cash.
      Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
      Referenced Symbols
      BRK.A
      -1.64%
      BRK.B
      -1.29%
      AAL
      -5.59%
      DAL
      -7.70%
      UAL
      -9.00%
      LUV
      -4.91%

      David Merkel, the longtime investor behind the Aleph Blog, still holds a stake in Berkshire Hathaway, but it’s smaller than it used to be — and it could get even smaller.

      “I may sell off the rest of my holdings,” he wrote. “The question is whether Buffett has an outdated view of how much the market could fall, given the skittish attitudes of economic-policy makers.”

      His primary beef with Buffett is how he’s dealt with the coronavirus crisis.

      “I sold half of my holdings in Berkshire recently, after I learned that Buffett did nothing during the recent fall in the stock market,” Merkel wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “Market values are relative, and there were certainly decent values to be realized in late March. You wouldn’t blow the whole wad, but surely you should have bought something.”
      …

    3. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
      Markets Briefing Equities
      Asia stocks falter after Fed warns of slow coronavirus recovery
      US central bank pours cold water on hopes of swift economic rebound from pandemic
      Shares in Tokyo fell after Fed chair Jay Powell warned of a prolonged downturn due to coronavirus
      © AFP via Getty Images
      Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong 14 minutes ago

      Stocks across Asia-Pacific fell on Thursday as hopes for a quick recovery from the coronavirus pandemic faded after the head of the US central bank warned of long-term damage to the world’s biggest economy.

      Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index fell 1.1 per cent, while Japan’s Topix index dropped 1.3 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.1 per cent. China’s CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks slipped 0.6 per cent.

      South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 1.2 per cent after at least 120 people were confirmed as infected with Covid-19 in an outbreak linked to a nightlife district in Seoul. The development has underscored the difficulties in re-opening economies even after authorities appeared to have controlled the epidemic.

      Global markets have rallied in recent weeks on hopes of a quick rebound for the global economy as countries ease lockdown measures intended to slow the pandemic. But additional waves of infections have damped sentiment this week as officials warned that more support measures will be needed to ensure a full recovery.

      Losses in Asia followed a rough day on Wall Street overnight as US stocks tumbled in the wake of comments from Fed chairman Jay Powell, who cautioned that an economic recovery “may take some time to gather momentum”.
      …

    1. The Financial Times
      Property sector
      US property investors braced for rise in delinquencies
      More than $45bn of loans in CMBS are behind on mortgage payments, warns S&P
      Since March restaurants and retailers in suburban strip malls and shopping centres have closed their doors. Only now are some reopening on a reduced basis
      © Getty Images
      Eric Platt in New York 16 hours ago

      Investors in US commercial mortgage-backed securities are bracing themselves for losses as the coronavirus pandemic forces owners of malls, hotels, office towers and other properties to skip payments.

      More than $45bn of mortgage loans bundled into US CMBS are overdue and were in so-called grace periods in April, S&P Global said on Tuesday.

      Analysts with S&P, the country’s largest credit rating agency, forecast that 10 per cent of mortgages in US CMBS deals could fall into delinquency in May if those in their grace period continue to go unpaid. In April that share was less than 2 per cent.

      “The measures adopted to contain Covid-19 have pushed the global economy into recession and could cause a surge of defaults,” said Ambika Garg and Tamara Hoffman, analysts at S&P.

      Details on loan payments that have fallen behind, including those that are less than one month past due, are now being closely followed by investors looking to understand the damage inflicted by the closures and shelter-in-place orders that have been imposed as US officials attempted to curtail the spread of the virus.

      The grace periods cover mortgages that are less than 30 days late as well as payments that have not yet been collected by the time the mortgage servicer issues its monthly report to investors.
      …

    1. Bonds
      Treasury yields slide after Fed comments, ahead of new US jobless claims data
      Published Thu, May 14 2020
      2:49 AM EDT
      Elliot Smith
      Key Points
      – New jobless claims for last week are due at 8:30 a.m. ET, with 33.5 million Americans having already filed for unemployment over the last seven weeks, sending the unemployment rate to a post-World War II high of 14.7%.
      – Yields began their decline on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of “significant downside risks” from the coronavirus pandemic and suggested that the path ahead is “highly uncertain.”
      …

    2. “Any thoughts on why Treasury yields are suddenly diving…”

      When Treasury prices rise Yields fall, which means I should be selling my hoard, but I’m not ready to buy until I see blood in the streets.

  18. Wadda you know:

    Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order that closed businesses to limit spread of coronavirus

    ‘The Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ order shutting down daily life to limit the spread of coronavirus — marking the first time a statewide order of its kind has been knocked down by a court of last resort.’

    https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/13/wisconsin-supreme-court-strikes-down-tony-evers-coronavirus-orders/5179205002/

    It won’t be the last.

    1. ‘Several businesses are suing Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, saying her stay-home order is irrational and violates their rights. A Hood River-based non-profit called Open Our Oregon and nine other businesses from across the state filed the lawsuit.’

      ‘The lawsuit says the executive order was made without consulting lawmakers.

      ‘The plaintiffs want a court order against the stay-home rules. They say the full shutdown orders are no longer necessary to prevent Oregon’s emergency health services from being overwhelmed. ‘

      https://katu.com/news/local/oregon-businesses-sue-gov-brown-over-stay-home-order

  19. It seems the production cuts needed to end the oil market supply flood are underway.

    1. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
      Oil
      Oil supply expected to hit 9-year low after demand collapses
      US will be biggest contributor to production cuts in 2020, says IEA
      Crude oil storage tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma
      © REUTERS
      Anjli Raval, Senior Energy Correspondent an hour ago

      Oil supply is expected to fall to a nine-year low this month, the International Energy Agency said, as global producers make big cuts to offset a record collapse in demand.

      May production is expected to fall by 12m barrels a day, the Paris-based body said in its monthly report on Thursday, following supply reductions from oil-producer group Opec and Russia — together the so-called Opec+ group. “Massive cuts” from other countries including the US and Canada are also being made faster than initially anticipated, according to the report.

      “It is on the supply side where market forces have demonstrated their power and shown that the pain of lower prices affects all producers,” said the IEA. Total supply is expected to be 88m b/d in May.

      Output from non-Opec+ countries is forecast to be 4m b/d lower by June with the US — by the end of the year — anticipated to be the biggest contributor to the reductions, with output down 2.8m b/d compared with the end of 2019.

      Although Saudi Arabia — Opec’s largest producer and the world’s biggest exporter — is bringing supply down by more, that is from a record high reached in April as it engaged in a price war. The kingdom’s year-on-year cut from the end of 2019 will be 900,000 b/d.
      …

  20. Does a portfolio strategy of HODLing just two dollar-denominated components over the next few months make sense?

    There’s gonna be a massive property investment dump if this strategy catches on!

    Need to Know
    To survive the next few months, you only need two assets, says this money manager
    Published: May 14, 2020 at 8:38 a.m. ET
    By Barbara Kollmeyer
    Critical information for the U.S. trading day
    A bumpy road ahead
    Associated Press

    Another 3 million Americans filed for jobless claims.

    And markets are showing less resilience than they have been, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell put a pin in hopes that global economies can rebound quickly from the pandemic. And warnings from big investors over too-pricey stocks have been plentiful.

    Our call of the day comes from a money manager who advises keeping things stripped for speed right now, which he does by trading just two instruments.

    “We offer a very simple, scalable strategy that involves the S&P 500 ETFs (SPY, -1.76%) and cash,” being in one or the other, Thomas H. Kee Jr., President and Chief Executive of Stock Traders Daily and portfolio manager at Equity Logic, told MarketWatch in an interview.

    Kee argues that a complicated and cumbersome portfolio, like some of the more popular ones with 20 or 30 stocks to keep track of, makes it tough to manage risk in a timely manner.

    “The ease of use of simplifying a portfolio so that it just tracks the market or goes to cash allows it to protect itself quickly, and that’s essential when markets conditions are like they are today,” Kee said, referring to Wednesday when a big market drop saw him initially move to cash, but later switch to buying the S&P 500 due the depth of that fall.
    …

  21. Do we really need to keep the blinders on until July or August before acknowledging the ginormous crater that has supplanted The Housing Bubble?

    1. Unemployed people normally don’t buy houses.

      The Financial Times
      US economy
      US jobless claims mount to 36m since start of lockdowns
      Almost 3m more Americans filed for first time unemployment benefits despite slowing weekly tally
      More US jobs have been lost in the past two months than created over the past decade © JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
      Peter Wells in New York 8 minutes ago

      Almost 3m Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time in the past week, taking the number of applications to more than 36m in the eight weeks since the widespread lockdowns due to the pandemic.

      Although it was the lowest increase since mid-March, the number of initial jobless claims was 2.98m in the week ended May 9, the US labour department said on Thursday, from a revised 3.2m a week earlier. This compared with expectations of 2.5m applications, according to a survey of economists by Refinitiv.

      While jobless claims have retreated for six consecutive weeks from a record 6.69m in late March, the rates of decline depend heavily on how successfully states can reopen their economies, a nascent process that is far from uniform across the country.

      Despite the gradual week-to-week declines, jobless claims remain at levels in excess of those seen during the financial crisis and reflective of the fallout that has curtailed the US’s longest economic expansion on record.

      Over the past eight weeks, a total 36.6m Americans have filed for unemployment benefits for the first time. Jay Powell, Federal Reserve chairman, warned on Wednesday that the outlook was still “subject to significant downside risks” said that “additional policy measures” from the US central bank and government may be necessary to support the domestic economy.
      …

  22. Much maligned savers are punching back at the debt mongers and debt donkeys who are responsible for this economic mess we are in.

    This ‘new threat’ to the U.S. economy flies in the face of conventional wisdom
    Published: May 13, 2020 at 4:14 p.m. ET
    By Shawn Langlois
    America’s facing a ‘new threat.’ Everett

    ‘Americans are slashing their spending, hoarding cash and shrinking their credit card debt as they fear their jobs could disappear during the coronavirus pandemic.’

    That is the lead in a CNN Business story this week about how U.S. consumers have been navigating one of the greatest financial curveballs the world has ever seen.

    Makes sense, considering the climate.

    Drilling into the numbers shows credit-card debt dropped by its biggest percentage in more than three decades, while savings jumped to levels not seen since the Reagan era.

    That is good, right? Not necessarily, at least as far as the headline of the story is concerned.

    “Although caution is a logical response to that uncertainty, hunkering down also poses a risk to the recovery in an economy dominated by consumer spending,” reporter Matt Egan explained. “A so-called V-shaped recovery can’t happen if consumers are sitting on the sidelines.”

    So, should we be out there spending our way out of this mess? Hundreds of responses poured into Reddit’s “Frugal” board, which counts some 1.3 million members.

    As you might guess from the name of the group, the notion didn’t go over very well.

    “Yep, that’s what happens in a system that demands endless consumption (and yet also ridicules you for not having enough),” wrote one user under the handle PoisonTongue.

    Others on Reddit keyed into the idea that consumers should somehow be shamed for raising cash.

    “The dissolved middle class holding on to a couple thousand bucks left to their name is ‘hoarding cash,’” BonelessSkinless said. “The hypocrisy is disgusting.”

    TheAllMightiest pointed to the pandemic as the reason for his job loss before taking his shot at the widening gap between wealthy and the not-so wealthy.

    “I love how the blame immediately goes to the average American, instead of oh, I dunno, the 1% and these megamillionaires buying back their own stocks right now,” he said. “People are just trying to survive and feed themselves right now, and we’re supposed to care about the big picture?”
    …

    1. I have lost respect for the CDC and their Frontman Dr Fauci. There are far more impressive Doctors that don’t think a long term lock down is warranted.

      You would think that Congress would of held hearings on the Science with the top Doctors in that field before passing bail out bills and shutting down the Nation.
      People were willing to shut down for about 4 weeks to shore up the medical system, but now it’s just asking to much for people to lose their means of support.

      The Main Stream Media has double downed on one man Government Worker, being Dr Fauci, who has a hidden agenda. Nothing is good enough for Dr Fauci other than total lockdown until a cure or vaccine is produced.

      Nothing about protection of the high risk group like nursing homes to save lives.

      Dr Fauci plays into the Dems playbook and it’s becoming apparent that this is a power play where the facts don’t matter.

      Climate change was the big fear narritive, but it didn’t gain the traction needed , so now it’s a bug, so Government will save you if you just do what Governors say.

      Again, it’s really showing the true colors of Political factions that have a gain power by any means, even using a health crisis.
      Ben Jones had the right take on the C-19 affair early on if you ask me.

      1. Also, in recent years the popularty of vaccines has been going down because of damage caused and questionable effectiveness of yearly flu shots.

      3. Hell. It’s truly a no-win scenario no matter who’s in charge, right?

        If they reduce restrictions and the Covid numbers rise, they’re immediately attacked.

        If they order continued restriction to stabilize the numbers, the economy suffers and they’re immediately attacked.

        The PTB and Media (and everyone else who has an opinion) are so utterly sh*t-scared of inevitable backlash/attack from crazy, fear-driven, virtue-signalling SJW snowflakes, consideration of ANY decision is mentally immobilizing. The internet, unfortunately, has provided a hyper-efficient vehicle for nuclear backlash that can be so instantaneously destructive, it’s literally paralyzing to rational thoughts, decisions and actions.

          1. Like I tell the SJWs that complain so bitterly about Trump, when you weaponize shame you can’t be surprised when your opponent chooses the power of shamelessness. It was inevitable and will probably get more extreme as we go.

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