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A Cursory Glance Reveals Major Price Cuts, With Landlords All But Begging You To Sign A Lease

A report from the Commercial Observer. “If you thought it was bad now, well, it could get a lot worse. Scores of apartments could be empty as thousands of renters face evictions after losing their jobs and as millennials in pricey spots like New York and San Francisco flee in search of cheaper pastures. Hotels remain empty, student housing becomes vacant shells, malls shutter and no one will step in to help as lenders hit ‘forbearance fatigue’ and refuse to extend any more relief to owners, experts warn.”

“That could spell trouble for recently built mega-project like Hudson Yards in Manhattan and the American Dream Mall in New Jersey. Retail consultant Kate Newlin had her doubts about those projects — especially the seven-story Hudson Yards mall — beforehand but said their ‘reason for being’ is even more unclear post-COVID-19.”

“‘They were a developer’s wet dream,’ she said. ‘They were smelling their own fumes because Related [Companies] wanted to be able to sell apartments over on the West Side. They got an out-of-town sucker like Neiman Marcus to believe it, and when you go down there it’s never been a vital retail community.'”

“In Manhattan, coworking companies lease a total of 14.7 million square feet and take 3.1 percent of its office inventory, according to a report by Savills. ‘I do see some landlords that get really hurt from this,’ said ESRT’s CEO Anthony Malkin — long a vocal critic of WeWork. ‘But they made the decision to rent to them in the first place, which any single one that spoke to me about it I said, ‘Don’t do it … You’re leasing it to some whacko, Svengali dude.’”

“Multifamily sales, especially ones with rent-stabilized units, have already faced large decreases before the coronavirus pandemic due to the rent reforms passed by the state last year. If that isn’t changed, coupled with the impact of the coronavirus, it could spell doom for the city’s multifamily sector, Shaun Riney, a senior managing director of investments at Marcus & Millichap warned.”

“‘Overall, when you have a system when you can’t raise revenue and expenses go up and the government’s against you, that is not an investable sector, you’re actually going to lose money,’ Riney said. ‘People give up so you’re going to see what neighborhoods look like when boilers aren’t replaced and when there’s no investment into apartments. The worst-case scenario is the true bankruptcy of the neighborhoods,’ he said.”

The Real Deal on Florida. “Condos are trading for much lower prices in Miami-Dade County, as weekly sales volume continues to plummet due to the pandemic. A total of 56 condos sold for $16.6 million last week. That’s compared to 51 units that sold for $18 million the previous week. Condos last week sold for an average price of about $296,000 or $250 per square foot.”

From Curbed San Francisco in California. “Zumper, the San Francisco–based apartment-rental site, just released its latest rent figures and, according to CEO Anthemos Georgiades, the ‘price drops are unprecedented’ in the seven-plus years the company has published rent reports. ‘All this talk of people leaving S.F. for a future of remote work is now backed up by hard data.'”

“Georgiades isn’t being hyperbolic. Per Zumper’s report, one-bedroom rents in S.F. fell 9.2 percent year over year in May, the largest S.F. drop ever in the history of the company’s monthly reports and the lowest price point in over three years. The average price for a one-bedroom in S.F. stands at $3,360; it was at $3,700 the same time last year.”

“The plummeting numbers fell even further down in Silicon Valley. In Mountain View the price for a one-bedroom home dropped 15.9 percent in consecutive years in May. Menlo Park saw a 14.1 percent tumble, while Cupertino and Palo Alto saw prices plunge 14.3 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. Georgiades says that these rent drops may be even higher than the company’s published data, ‘since some landlords conceal price drops in ‘lease specials’ like six weeks of free rent to move in.'”

“A cursory glance on Craigslist reveals major price cuts, with landlords all but begging you to sign a lease: ‘Newly Reduced Rate’ reads the headline for a new East Cut studio offering eight free weeks, while this contemporary SoMa loft dangles ten weeks of rent-free living to interested takers. ‘I’ve never seen anybody giving that much free rent as an incentive the whole time I’ve lived here, since 2003,’ Bay Area property manager and landlord Carlos Carbajal tells KQED.”

From Livable on California. “Median rent prices across Los Angeles continued their downward slide in May, making it the third month in a row that one- and two-bedroom rents have declined on a year-to-date basis. The city ranked as the seventh priciest rental market nationwide, according to Zumper. One-bedroom rent dropped 1.4 percent from April to May and 3.6 percent over the same period a year ago to a median price of $2,170. Two-bedroom apartment rent experienced a more modest decline, falling 0.7 percent month-over-month and 1.7 percent year-over-year to $2,980.”

“One-bedroom rent in San Diego decreased 0.6 percent month-over-month. Two-bedrooms saw more pronounced declines, falling 2.1 percent between April and May and 1.3 percent over 2019 levels. ‘As more and more companies move into remote work, many renters don’t want to pay the big city price tag when they are unable to use the amenities and are looking for more affordable options outside of large, metropolitan areas,’ wrote the report’s author, Crystal Chen.”

“This, combined with a record-shattering unemployment rate of 15.5 percent in April, could slow the demand in California’s urban rental markets even further, causing landlords to cut their prices or offer incentives to attract new tenants.”

The Edwardsville Intelligencer in Illinois. “As a landlord, Lewis Simpson understands that many people have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic and may have trouble paying their rent. But Simpson believes that some tenants – those that can afford to pay rent – are taking advantage of the situation, especially after Gov. J.B. Pritzker extended a temporary ban on evictions as Illinois entered Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan.”

“‘There has been a big push, which started out of Seattle, that people basically want free rent,’ said Simpson, who has rental properties in Granite City. ‘In Illinois, there was a push to have rent forgiveness until this COVID thing is over. But (rental properties) are my 401k and getting rent from people is how I pay for my retirement. We have a problem with people who have never been unemployed through this. They are essential workers and they are getting stimulus money and they’re not paying a dime. We can’t evict them because the governor has imposed an eviction ban. Not only do I not have money coming in (from people who refuse to pay their rent), I’ve got to dip into my little retirement fund and pay these bills because these people aren’t paying rent.'”

“‘I can see if they halted evictions on people that had legitimate financial hardships due to COVID-19, but for people who have not been laid off, there is absolutely no excuse for them to not pay their rent,’ said county treasurer Chris Slusser. ‘A lot of these landlords might own 30 properties and that’s their only source of income, and some of them have told me that they are facing bankruptcy. If landlords are not able to pay their mortgages, the banks are going to suffer as well.'”

“Another landlord that has experienced similar issues is Julia Uhring. ‘I have one tenant that is avoiding me,’ Uhring said. ‘I left her numerous messages and I know she got them because I left a note across the keyhole on her door. She has not done anything to communicate with me. She owes me a portion of the rent for April plus all of May and she hasn’t paid for June. Every time I go by there, she has gone to work, or she is not at home. I left her a note and told her I was going to go into her house and gave a 48-hour notice.'”

“Like Simpson, Uhring is retired and invested in rental properties to supplement her retirement income. She also feels that the state has failed to recognize the financial concerns of landlords during the pandemic. ‘There are no consequences (for people refusing to pay rent) and we’re not getting any compensation (from the state),’ Uhring said. ‘This is basically our business. I was a stay-at-home mom for 25 years and I don’t have much money for retirement.'”

The Oregonian. “Matt and Darci Haney have been out on a financial limb before. In 2007, when the housing boom crashed and the economy followed, they pulled a house in Carlton they couldn’t sell off the market and, catering to consumer wants, opened it as a short-term rental. Soon, weekends were booked by people wanting to spend a little time in Oregon’s wine country.”

“After hard work and success, the Haneys sold a home in 2018 and, navigating another time out on a financial limb, bought Westerlook Farm, a 47-acre estate, at the north fork of the Yamhill River in Carlton. The Haneys’ idea: To live with their two daughters in the main house and create a vacation getaway in the 3,000-square-foot, remodeled guest house. The rental rate: Around $536 a night.”

“Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and stay-at-home orders were issued in March. The Haneys watched as all but one of their reservations, which stretched into fall, were canceled. Instead of dashing their hopes and emptying their bank account, they came up with a Plan B. They would charge a lower daily rate for longer stays. Guests responded and booked for three weeks or longer.”

“‘Having someone in there is better than letting it sit empty and what a great, private space to stay during a time of transition, especially for someone selling or buying a house,’ says Darci Haney, who offers long-staying guests 10% off for a week and 30% off for a month.”

“Across the country, people who purchased a property with the idea that temporary renters would help pay the mortgage have been hurting since travel suddenly stopped in March. A new survey by IPX 1031 found that part-time and full-time Airbnb hosts have dropped their daily rates as much as $90 on average and 45% of hosts say they won’t be able to sustain operating costs if travel restrictions and tourist disinterest last six more months. ‘We’re so glad we don’t have two lodging places,’ says Darci Haney.”

Related Posts

Fear Mongering The Housing Crash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFGXXAVNYMU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g-kF6OvAgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTtmyc6vV6c

This Post Has 216 Comments

  1. ‘these rent drops may be even higher than the company’s published data, ‘since some landlords conceal price drops in ‘lease specials’ like six weeks of free rent to move in’

    I was wondering when someone would mention the effective rent. As we’ve seen in Denver and elsewhere, when you include vacancy and concessions, rent drops can be double or triple the stated amount.

    2. This is what I’ve been waiting for. As I told a realtor friend when he claimed things were strong – low unemployment, rising wages, rising rents—- ‘those are the same conditions we had just before the Great Depression hit.’

  2. Howdy.
    Last week, I mentioned my friend is on the market to buy a home in North-Central, South-Central Austin, TX with a budget of $750k.
    He put an offer on this listing for $35k above asking price over the weekend. He was beat by an offer $50k above asking price.
    The insanity in this town is unbelievable.
    Btw, the house is adjancent to the intersection of Mopac and 2222 and there’s plenty of highway noise from your front yard.
    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5707-Fairlane-Dr_Austin_TX_78757_M78916-09569

      2. Yeah that makes no sense. Dark trim isn’t a bad thing as part of a defined style like Craftsman, farmhouse, or Queen Anne, but trim is supposed to be stained wood. Never black.
        And what’s with the mud patch next to the driveway. They couldn’t at least put down some sod?
        I would have screened in the back patio. But no way is that worth $600K+.

      3. Black baseboards and closet door trim. Yikes!

        Yeah, gross. The 80s called – they want their contemporary back.

    4. Amazing. 12 years ago, I lived just a couple miles up the road at Parmer and I’ve watched as nothing special homes there are now at 300% of their pre-crash prices. Who is buying them?

      1. nothing special homes there are now at 300% of their pre-crash prices

        This caused me to look at my house up at 183 and Oak Knoll. My house zillows at 2x what I sold it for in 2008.

        Taxes on it are up more than 100%.

        1. The trendy thing on HBB is to ask “Is that a lot?”

          Even in 2020 adjusting for inflation, houses should still be listing slightly below the 2008. And they’re listing double that? Is that a lot? Yes. Would a 40% price drop be a lot? Yes, but not enough.

    2. Sold in 2016 for $300k. Listed in 2019 for $1.6M… nuts. Don’t know if it was an empty lot prior to 2019 or what.

  4. “…‘All this talk of people leaving S.F. for a future of remote work is now backed up by hard data….’”

    I work for a Fortune 50 company with a strong presence in the SF area.

    (Me personally works/lives in Orange County).

    Our company pushed everyone [except for essential network IT, etc] out of our offices mid March with the start of the Covid-19 panic.

    Since then my own informal survey indicates *not one single individual* wants to return to the office. Everyone likes working from home. Less commute stress, less politics, fewer distractions, no dress code, etc, and [most important], productivity is the same or even up in many cases.

    More to the point. Corporate management video conference last week stated that company is “rethinking” the need for company to spend megabucks on huge office complexes. Translation: The era of the large office complex has seen its day. (Yet another example of ‘Follow the money’)

    Absolutely no reason now for any employee to spend $$mm on some cracker box just to be commute close to work anymore. Live where you damn well please.

    Ladies and Gentlemen: Elvis has left the building.

    1. At least something good has come from this insanity. The oil and CRE industries must be sh*tting nickels.

    2. Translation: The era of the large office complex has seen its day.

      They will become the new “dead mall”

        1. Or the NEW Improved Living lifestyle complex for the homeless. Air conditioned, lots of room to play in for the kids, waterfalls and fountains to swim in, a food court to cook your own meals….large bathrooms and even private showers. Luxury homelessness at its finest. but space is limited due to fire rules and how many section 8 vouchers that evil orange man will allow us to give out…

          1. Some years ago I saw a documentary about how unused office space in Tokyo was repurposed as housing, with the tenants living in cubicles with high walls and doors.

          3. I believe they mostly had menial jobs in Tokyo. Not sure there are any jobs in the sticks.

    3. i think i have mentioned it before – talking (in the last 2 weeks) to my management level/GM friends at major high tech cos in both the Seattle area and the valley ….

      The working game plan is that Sr and Principal level engineers will be allowed to work from home — if they will attend key meetings (like major design reviews) once a week or two weeks.

      So fanciful locations like Hawaii or Tahiti or Bali are out. But if you are 2-3 hours out of Silicon Valley or Seattle and willing to get up early and commute for 3 hours each way that day once a week or 2 … you are good.

      Imagine working for Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure or HBO or F5 – but living on 1) the San Juan islands or 2) a mountain golf course like Leavenworth. Why would you want to live in overpriced housing in the Seattle area.

      1. The number of meetings will go down, and can just be done remotely. The techcompany I work for is probably more productive now….a little surprised tbh. Less meeting, less red tape holding everything up. It’s been great.

        1. The number of meetings will go down, and can just be done remotely. The techcompany I work for is probably more productive now….a little surprised tbh. Less meeting, less red tape holding everything up. It’s been great.

          A little different here. Our productivity has been pretty good, maybe better than before. But we’ve been fighting with losing time to even more meetings because it seems like now every 5 minute conversation previously done in hallways between 2-3 people is now a 30 minute meeting for 6. But other than that we’re good.

      2. The working game plan is that Sr and Principal level engineers will be allowed to work from home

        Indeed. Are you picking up a sense that management doesn’t believe that people below senior level are as productive at home or something like that?

        Imagine working for Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure or HBO or F5 – but living on 1) the San Juan islands or 2) a mountain golf course like Leavenworth. Why would you want to live in overpriced housing in the Seattle area.

        Well, you’ve seen Casa Spiffy… 🙂 But having no line of sight to neighbors in all directions is pretty rare for anything in close to the metro area. Now, Leavenworth is something that Mrs. Spiffy would probably be interested in.

        1. Are you picking up a sense that management doesn’t believe that people below senior level are as productive at home or something like that?

          My management seems to assume that junior people need a LOT of in-person mentoring. Even as a junior person I preferred to get my assignments and help via email so I’m skeptical. But I’ve noticed that some people can’t seem to think something through without talking/thinking out loud for a while. That’s weird to me. And they think I’m weird. Oh well. I wish they’d at least read all the way through the email once before calling me. The answers are right there.

          1. I wish they’d at least read all the way through the email once before calling me.

            Three sentences was the limit for my former VP & General Counsel.

          2. Three sentences was the limit for my former VP & General Counsel.

            Yeah, I get that. Management doesn’t have time to read long rambling stories. But if you’re a junior guy who asked the question, read the answer. I’ll spoon feed it to you if I have to, but at least make an effort to comprehend text rather than immediately switching to whatever is easiest for you.

        2. I was in Leavenworth over the weekend on my trek to Montana and eventually southern Idaho. Leavenworth was eery and I could literally see from one end of town to the other. Almost no activity at all. It was disturbing actually. I’ve been going there since the late 70’s. My elderly mom had an Anniversary booked at the Enzian for a while and they cancelled her and rebooked into July when they open. I can’t fathom the financial hit to that town.

      3. The working game plan is that Sr and Principal level engineers will be allowed to work from home

        I’m on a geographically diverse team that has members in 5 countries and 3 continents. Getting together in a conference room isn’t something we do. Over the years we have switched conferencing platforms.

        I used to have an office at the big campus, but I gave it up as I’ve been WFH for years. My employer has been renting out space in the Broomfield (Denver) campus, but there is still plenty of free space.

    4. The era of the large office complex has seen its day.

      Haven’t some of the tech companies in the Bay Area spent a gazillion on huge new campuses in the last 5-10 years?

        1. One thing about Apple Park though — Apple has a major.. I mean MAJOR… secrecy culture, extending probably farther than it needs to. There’s a lot of hardware, prototypes, and other stuff that isn’t allowed out of that building.

          And that’s where some companies will draw the line. Most people, even senior devs are not going to have the level of security on their home network that even begins to compare to the corporate office setup. Remote desktop in will be allowed in some cases, but in others, it’s a no go. Mrs Spiffy works for a subsidiary of one of the big health insurers and regularly runs into HIPPA limits on what she can access remotely/less secured. And it got a LOT worse after a successful data breach/ransomware attack due to the outsourced IT services company they used…

          1. extending probably farther than it needs to

            Ya think? To me it’s ridiculous and a big reason why I don’t enjoy working with them. But they are the reason I got to go to China originally, so…

          2. I have a friend who supports fruity engineers for a vendor. Let’s just say he’s not impressed.

  5. Does it seem like negative interest rates may eventually be needed to prop up risk assets, like stocks, bonds and housing?

    1. The Fed
      St. Louis Fed researchers say negative interest rates may be needed for economic recovery
      Published: June 3, 2020 at 10:37 a.m. ET
      By Steve Goldstein
      V-shaped recovery architect President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Getty Images

      Federal Reserve officials from Chair Jerome Powell on down have been pretty consistent in their scorn toward negative interest rates, even as the market briefly priced in the expectation that U.S. rates would fall below zero.

      That criticism takes two forms — one, Fed officials say evidence doesn’t show much effectiveness where they have been tried, and two, negative interest rates might throw markets, such as those for money markets, into turmoil.

      So it’s notable, if not a signal of future intention, that a publication from the St. Louis Fed argues in favor of negative interest rates.

      Yi Wen, assistant vice president, and Brian Reinbold, a research associate, say aggressive fiscal and monetary policy will be needed to get the U.S. economy back to trend after the hit from the coronavirus pandemic. The fiscal response of over $2 trillion in spending and the Fed’s asset-purchase program that has brought its balance sheet to over $7 trillion may not be enough, they say.
      …

      1. In my view, people should rebel against monopoly prices, fake housing Ponzi scheme, , jobs and manufacturing being outsourced , corruption in the Political system, etc.

        If people keep buying into false narratives as to what the problems are , than the people are not enpowered to change the screwed up status quo.
        The power brokers like nothing more than to distract from the real hijacking of the American Dream by the Globalist money changers who just use the Government to further their self serving money and power objective.

        The protestors are calling for a defunding of the Police as if having a police force is the problem. If these people can’t even identify who is screwing them, than you get misdirected mod anger.

        People know something is wrong, but they seem to be brainwashed by these false narratives and political correct nonsense narratives.

        1. “People know something is wrong, but they seem to be brainwashed by these false narratives and political correct nonsense narratives.”

          These people, at root, are stupid.

          2. … and being actively confused and bombarded until they have no idea who is playing for team, or what the game even is.

        2. The power brokers like nothing more than to distract from the real hijacking of the American Dream by the Globalist money changers who just use the Government to further their self serving money and power objective.

          “History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance.” -James Madison

        3. If these people can’t even identify who is screwing them, than you get misdirected mod anger.

          Yep. Once in awhile, I’ll try to explain some of the things we talk about on here to a friend, etc. Basically their eyes just glaze over. To start with, almost no one is capable of moving past simplistic partisan thinking.

      2. BTC is looking better and better everyday. Hopefully you’ve dipped your toes a little.

          1. …. and a knock on your door by Federal law enforcement, Homeland Security and Treasury department thugs.

  6. ‘They were a developer’s wet dream…They were smelling their own fumes because Related [Companies] wanted to be able to sell apartments over on the West Side. They got an out-of-town sucker like Neiman Marcus to believe it, and when you go down there it’s never been a vital retail community’

    Related wouldn’t do that, would they? What happened to Neiman Marcus?

    ‘In Manhattan, coworking companies lease a total of 14.7 million square feet and take 3.1 percent of its office inventory, according to a report by Savills. ‘I do see some landlords that get really hurt from this,’ said ESRT’s CEO Anthony Malkin — long a vocal critic of WeWork. ‘But they made the decision to rent to them in the first place, which any single one that spoke to me about it I said, ‘Don’t do it … You’re leasing it to some whacko, Svengali dude’

    Just cuz he shoots tequila in the morning? This wework debacle may be the high-water mark for this bubble. Now you have RE people questioning the very existence of CRE in New York.

  7. ‘Overall, when you have a system when you can’t raise revenue and expenses go up and the government’s against you, that is not an investable sector, you’re actually going to lose money’

    So what kind of a cap rate does that work out to?

    2. So what kind of a cap rate does that work out to?

      Imagine subsidizing somebody’s else’s rent, on a large scale. Gee, where do I sign up?

  8. The MSM Deli

    What’s today’s special?

    Well today we have a very nice Peaceful Riot salad. We also have COVID19 Social Distancing wrap and Donald Trump’s path cleared by tear gas, concussion grenades and mounted police as he walks across Pennsylvania Avenue to stand before the church of U.S. presidents on Rye.

    1. Price per square foot is $20 more YoY, $1 less MoM ?
      0 distressed, inventory is down. $230/sqft is not exactly a deal.

      A lot of those houses are likely to be cheaply constructed.

  10. When I was young and good jobs were abundant and home prices tracked with wages, and employers paid for cheap health care ,it was a total different world.

    No reason why this type of power in the working class Majority should of. died. The evidence shows that the Political body sold out the American dream in favor of a Global One World Order Oligarchy in which great wealth was transferred from the private sector working class in the USA.
    Young people can’t afford houses at these prices , it’s a joke.

    1. “It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it”

      Every time the letter behind the president’s name changes, people celebrate becoming part of the club.

      Narrator: They weren’t part of the club.

    2. But they can afford houses at lower prices that reflect their actual situations. But that mean older and richer asset holders will be affected by the consequences of what they have done too.

      “People give up so you’re going to see what neighborhoods look like when boilers aren’t replaced and when there’s no investment into apartments.” “The worst-case scenario is the true bankruptcy of the neighborhoods,” he said.

      Once again, blackmail by the asset holders. May us whole, or everything will be destroyed.

      Here is the reality. The worst case scenario is extend and pretend, with actual buildings allowed to deteriorate to preserve the value of pieces of paper. Someone who buys in at 80 percent off will be able to replace the boiler.

      1. But that mean older and richer asset holders will be affected by the consequences of what they have done too.

        Those would be the People Who Matter. They must be protected from negative consequences.

        1. Those would be the People Who Matter. They must be protected from negative consequences.

          Those people have been actively preparing and laying the foundation for many, many multi-faceted systems to protect themselves and their interests for decades now. Much of it has gone ‘under the radar’ all this time.

    3. It was a huge policy error to open up America’s bedroom communities to the reach of international oligarch investors who gamble with electronic printing press monopoly money. Handing out supersized federally guaranteed subprime loans at high multiples of income only served to compound the problems.

      1. Cheering for a couple percent off monthly rent loses sight of the bigger picture.

        We have to kick out the hook nose tribe of money changers and their pet orcs that commit >75% of all violent crime (look it up, federal crime stats) if we want to have a stable nation. Otherwise total economic collapse is guaranteed along with a race war that the tribes’ media monopoly is pushing in tv, movies, music, print and social media.

          1. actually there is Honoring MLK and applying content of character to all people not just some. Witness our new saint Floyd spending 5 years in jail on a home invasion.

          2. Witness our new saint Floyd spending 5 years in jail on a home invasion.

            Haha, serious? Unreal.

          3. I don’t recall Michael Brown being the model of a law abiding citizen, either. But he was nonetheless canonized by NPR reporters.

          5. Sounds like he was really “turning his life around” after that prison sentence. Meth, Fentanyl, etc. Uh-huh….

          7. Red: one more question was the police car running, breathing exhaust fumes while on the ground is not fun either….. plus smoking all compounding breathing problems. so his knee may have not been all that it seems

          9. “But I hope his family gets justice.”

            Which one?

            He’s fathered welfare children with more than one women. I’d like to see a cursory accounting of what this guy actually cost society each month, e.g., prison, section 8 housing, medicaid+state medical, snap benefits, three nutritious meals at k12 school, etc., and he’s probably been complaining that it isn’t enough. Hence the need to pass phony $20s.

          10. With his GoFundMe account now at $12,828,400, they shouldn’t need more government assistance.

          11. If the U.S. hadn’t off-shored its factories maybe George would have turned-out alright; no way to know. But I realize that we’ve “killed it” for bottom third.

    4. I agree that the working middle class has been and continues to be minimized. This Nation’s strength was the ability of the middle to attain and enjoy a reasonable life of both family and work, education, health. It’s never been perfect, as there are humans involved. It’s also never been static as nostalgia tends to selectively imply. When you get eye level in history you begin to notice and understand the mud wrestling that went on at every turn. Global One World Oligarchy as a goal for some has been around throughout history and supposed to be what this Country rebelled from (at least in a very large chunk). That small number of people owning most of anything, housing included, has been raising its ugly head for too many cycles. Citizen legislators is a broken concept. That gizmo getting fixed seems a key to fixing the other stuff. I don’t see one political Party as being the good guys and the other the bad. PACs, professional lobbyists-who I think only technically care who is what Party letter-lots of other parts & pieces not working as intended. All the yuck going on in any direction one looks is not a surprise.

    1. Yup. Peak Prosperity is all over this. The business model for this dicey company appears to be: gather hospital data on thousands of patients and conduct “retrospective” studies on just about anything. For example, they just published a study (in conjunct with the University of Utah) touting Ivermectin as a COVID treatment. Now, Ivermectin (another cheapo drug used for parasites) has shown some promise. But there’s certainly not enough data for a retrospective study for Ivermectin. And as we have seen for HCQ, retrospectives don’t work at all. And that’s assuming they collected actual data, which they clearly did not. It takes months to join up disparate hospital data, not to mention the ethical clearances.

      The WHO, the CDC, and The Lancet are *not* going to look good after all this shakes out — assuming the PTB allows the truth to out. Sure, people are going to have to bite the bullet and admit that Trump has a point. But what about the relatives of the victims? HCQ may have saved their loved ones. I’m surprised we haven’t seen any lawsuits over the mask debacle yet.

    2. Heh, looks like the World Health Organization might have some actual interest in health. But sorry, Tedros, too late for you, you’ve shown us your true colors.

      cnbc.com/2020/06/03/world-health-organization-resumes-coronavirus-trial-on-malaria-drug-hydroxychloroquine-after-safety-concerns.html

    3. The Lancet issued a statement Thursday saying a study that had suggested hydroxychloroquine was associated with higher rates of ventricular arrhythmia and death in COVID-19 patients — eventually leading to several global hydroxychloroquine trials being halted as a result — has been retracted as three of the authors “can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources.” Richard Horton, the journal’s editor, remarked “this is a shocking example of research misconduct in the middle of a global health emergency.”

      Link: https://www.firstwordpharma.com/node/1730194?tsid=17

      1. Add “The Lancet” onto the long list of corrupted organizations trying to undermine Trump.

    1. So this guy has a “small disability pension” and his wife is a “home health aide” ($15/hr tops, per google) but he has a much better car than I do, and a mortgage?

      Why do all these “po’ folks” have expensive trucks instead of a beater? And why do I think he works under the table even though he’s ‘disabled’? And that said work is gone and is the real reason he can’t make ends meet.

        1. For starters, if she’s a widow she gets her hubby’s SS bennies. If not, she gets half of his bennies or the ones she earned, whichever is greater.

          As to how she paid for her rental properties, who knows? Unless she cashed out hubby’s 401K she probably didn’t pay cash for them.

      2. “When NPR contacted Ford, the company said that is not its policy. And after reviewing the case, the company is now letting Baird skip his next car payment, which he says is a big help.”

        Haha. You got to love these companies. They are practiced liars. They tell customers one thing, but then when the media goes sniffing around they act like angels. Get some fawkin’ balls and be honest for once.

        That being said, I’m not in favor of any of this kick the can forbearance/skip payments BS. You bought it, pay for it or lose it. What ever happened to contract law?

      3. “Baird is a disabled veteran who gets a small disability pension.”

        Seems like there are too many of these cases of former service members think the general public owes them for the rest of their life. WTF?

        1. I think some of it is earned. We do tend to bust them up pretty good, as much in training as in combat. When you’re in, no matter how poorly you’re being led, you are told to just deal with the injuries and lack of healing time expediently and you can just make a VA claim after you get out. Very little effort is put into injury prevention if it interferes with the mission in any way.

          But that leads to the BS part. They are so used to hearing, “just make a claim when you get out and you’re set for life”, that’s the plan for lots of them.

          2. Not sure how set for life you would be. Maybe at 100%, and if you live somewhere with a low cost of living:

            Yes…you’re talking about a demographic who grew up with pretty low expectations and a military retirement/disability generally meets those expectations.

          3. you’re talking about a demographic who grew up with pretty low expectations and a military retirement/disability generally meets those expectations.

            FWIW, having a $40K pickup doesn’t sound like low expectations to me

          4. FWIW, having a $40K pickup doesn’t sound like low expectations to me

            I haven’t seen anybody living on military disability spend that much on a vehicle before. Usually they are the guys with 3 junkyard cars behind the house and when the one they are driving breaks down they pick whichever one is easiest to get running to fix and drive it for a while. The guys with the 40k trucks usually aren’t disabled yet. But maybe there are groups of people I never see.

          5. The disabled vet in the sob story had a brand new pickup.

            As I mentioned above, he probably did under the table jobs (handyman work, etc.) which dried up during the pandemic.

    2. ‘Millions Of Americans Skip Payments As Tidal Wave Of Defaults And Evictions Looms’……………………

      These victims of circumstance always seem to be “disabled” or suffering from some sort of malady. Mr Baird is standing next to his fairly new truck in a photo accompanying the NPR sob-story.

      ‘Baird is a disabled veteran who gets a small disability pension. When the pandemic hit, his wife lost her job as a home health aide. That was most of their income. And like many other contract workers, she has run into long delays trying to collect unemployment.

      Meanwhile, Baird says his mortgage company told him that he didn’t qualify for a federal program to postpone payments. Many homeowners have been given wrong or misleading information from lenders about that. And it appears that is what happened in Baird’s case.

      Baird also called Ford to try to get a break on the payments for his pickup truck. “When I contacted them, they told me that there was nothing they could do,” he says. “Just basically make your payment or suffer the late fees.’

      Here’s a couple of questions I would have liked to ask the Bairds:
      Why did Mr. Baird need a new truck when he is disabled and unemployed? Wouldn’t a simpler, smaller and older automobile have worked just as well for his personal needs?

      Does Mr. Baird feel any shame or remorse because he is failing to pay for items that he has purchased and now owes payment on?

      Can he and the misses use some of the money that they saved by not “throwing away” a rent payment each month to cover their present “emergency” costs?

      1. These victims of circumstance always seem to be “disabled” or suffering from some sort of malady.

        Way too many scammers in the US, especially the whole “disability” thing. He’s a veteran so I’ll give him a pass, but a kid friend of my old neighbor’s mom was a meth addict who was on disability for her “mental problems” or whatever. Meanwhile, she was dealing drugs out of her house and raking in money. Even the SSDI people knew it and did nothing.

      2. Why does he need a car at all? If she’s a home health aide, I assume she’s using her car to drive to her clients. He can sit at home and watch soap operas.

        1. How did he qualify for a loan on a brand new truck with household gross income around $30K?

    3. His mortgage and auto lenders told him he didn’t qualify for help.

      So much for that “Helping Hand” they virtue signal on the TV ads.

    4. “Lawmakers don’t want these delayed payments to hurt credit scores. Congress mandated that people who were current on their payments before the outbreak should still be reported as current on their payments while in a hardship program. And that appears to working for now.

      ‘What we’re seeing consistently across the board is actually credit scores are moving upward…’ ”

      That’s nuts.

    1. Fed is laying the groundwork to sharply escalate its swindles

      Not only do they have to swim or die like a shark, they have to always swim faster. It can’t go on forever.

      1. Seems to be able to go on for decades upon decades, so a large part of a human being’s life. I keep hearing how it can’t keep going, and it keeps getting worse.

        1. a large part of a human being’s life

          True, and I think that was oxide’s original point. I personally have chosen to keep risk low and miss out on the easy gains in front of the steam roller. My wife constantly questions my judgment in that area, though.

  15. Retail consultant Kate Newlin had her doubts about those projects — especially the seven-story Hudson Yards mall — beforehand but said their ‘reason for being’ is even more unclear post-COVID-19.”

    Left unsaid by any consultant who doesn’t want to be blacklisted from the industry for truth-telling: Malls are magnets for gimme-dats looking to steal and harass the dwindling number of customers who frequent such places. Especially now that organized mobs of looters are free to clean out stores with impunity, since the cops’ hands are tied.

  17. “‘Overall, when you have a system when you can’t raise revenue and expenses go up and the government’s against you, that is not an investable sector, you’re actually going to lose money,’ Riney said.

    Bingo. With the Democrats poised to soon achieve their permanent supermajority of dependency voters, landlords will be at the mercy of the deadbeats, with the collectivist one-party state encouraging and enabling their parasitism.

    1. There were a million people on welfare in NYC in the early 1990s, and we had a fiscal crisis. The far smaller number of people on welfare today are getting virtually nothing — and we have a fiscal crisis.

      The right and left need a big increase in people on welfare right now — so they have people that don’t cost very much to blame everything on when the coronavirus is over.

      You can real all about where state & local government $ for the needy are going here based on data submitted to the Census Bureau over the decades.

      https://larrylittlefield.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/aid-to-the-needy-2017-census-of-governments-data/

      Other posts cover taxes, other revenues, and spending on other things. What you have been told ain’t what’s so. True of everyone, Red State and Blue.

    2. Sounds like my retirement is secure. Why save when I can just become one of the entitled “gimmedats”? “Ehh, I’m OLD, sonny! Gimme my free housing, food and internet so I can tweet ‘Get off my lawn!’ memes…”

      Thoughts like that chill my bones…

  18. In Mountain View the price for a one-bedroom home dropped 15.9 percent in consecutive years in May. Menlo Park saw a 14.1 percent tumble, while Cupertino and Palo Alto saw prices plunge 14.3 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively.

    Is that a lot?

  19. “A cursory glance on Craigslist reveals major price cuts, with landlords all but begging you to sign a lease: ‘Newly Reduced Rate’ reads the headline for a new East Cut studio offering eight free weeks, while this contemporary SoMa loft dangles ten weeks of rent-free living to interested takers.

    Screw your XX weeks of reduced rent, greedheads. If you want to rent to this stable, creditworthy renter, then give me a monthly rental figure that represents value for money. Otherwise, go pound sand.

    1. Yeah, I don’t play “incentive” games. I’m casually looking for a new rental. Haven’t see anything that even remotely whets my appetite. Just a bunch of horrifically overpriced spec shacks.

  20. ‘As more and more companies move into remote work, many renters don’t want to pay the big city price tag when they are unable to use the amenities and are looking for more affordable options outside of large, metropolitan areas,’ wrote the report’s author, Crystal Chen.”

    Millions of former sheeple are going to see the writing on the wall following days of unchecked looting and rioting in 30 or more progressive-maladministered cities. They are going to vote with their feet and head for the red states and rural areas, while urban RE prices crater as the tax base shrinks while Gimme Dat demands become more extortionate.

    1. They are going to vote with their feet and head for the red states and rural areas

      …And then proceed to vote “blue” and destroy the areas they moved to?

    2. Stick to complaining about the Jews, you know nothing. At the end of this the innovation necessary to keep the creaky machinery of our society working will come from the same overpriced coastal cities it currently comes from. Remote work not withstanding, we’ll see places in those cities get more expensive than ever before because ideas matter.

      1. Try again, Barnaby Fife. The coastal elites produce tools of mass distraction and propaganda and financialization. The vast middle keeps society working. Then again, maybe what you meant was that the “coastal elite” keeps the oligarchical feudalist neo-plantation running. If so, that would be a correct statement.

  21. “‘There has been a big push, which started out of Seattle, that people basically want free rent,’ said Simpson, who has rental properties in Granite City. ‘In Illinois, there was a push to have rent forgiveness until this COVID thing is over. But (rental properties) are my 401k and getting rent from people is how I pay for my retirement.

    You must be a special kind of stupid, Simpson, to live in a corrupt, insolvent blue state and “invest” in rentals when parasitism and freeloading are the supreme Democrat Party virtues.

  22. If landlords are not able to pay their mortgages, the banks are going to suffer as well.’”

    You mean, enabling deadbeats has unintended consequences?

  23. inventory in 22151 down to 7 vs. pat of 40
    corona worries making inventory scarce?
    if they delay much more sellers wind up in the july/aug dead zone

  24. n 2007, when the housing boom crashed and the economy followed, they pulled a house in Carlton they couldn’t sell off the market and, catering to consumer wants, opened it as a short-term rental.

    Anyone who “couldn’t sell” their shack just self-identified as an “I’m not giving it away” greedhead. The sooner their plummeting shack value drags them deep underwater, the better.

  25. “Across the country, people who purchased a property with the idea that temporary renters would help pay the mortgage have been hurting since travel suddenly stopped in March.

    Die, speculator scum. Just die already.

  26. The Fed’s Ponzi markets all soared today. The disconnect between the stock market and our oligarch-looted, coronavirus-ravaged, civil unrest-wracked real economy has never been more surreal.

    2. Am I off base to think that the duty of Government is to protect the Citizens in more ways than just having a standing army.

      Wouldn’t a government need to protect survival as in protection of job and manufacturing base.

      A Globalist one World economic order wasn’t what people voted for.

      And this Communist garbage that is gaining ground in this Country would destroy all the premises this Country was founded on.

      When the Protestors hold up one arm that’s a Communist gesture.

  28. In 2-3 weeks we will konw the TRUTH…..will thousands of rioters wind up in hospitals and die or was this all a fake.

  30. Where’s Batman when you need him?

    2 June 2020
    SF News / Jay Barmann
    Looters Stole At Least 73 Cars From a Dodge Dealership In San Leandro

    It turns out the looting situation in San Leandro on Sunday night was even more extensive and egregious than already reported, as we’re now learning about a car dealership that lost between 70 and 100 vehicles to looters.

    A Walmart store and an adjacent Burlington Coat Factory in San Leandro were broken into, vandalized, looted, and the Walmart was left smoldering into Monday morning in an apocalyptically chaotic scene of civil unrest.
    …

    1. I’ve been in a couple of different Walmarts in Las Vegas the last two days. Both were closing at 5 PM. I didn’t ask but I assume it’s a precautionary measure. Even though they are both located miles from where any violent protests have occurred.

  31. Riots, arson leave Minnesota communities of color devastated:

    “The antagonists were racially mixed at first, he said, but were nearly all white by Thursday night as protesters took over the Third Precinct. What troubled him and his family most, including wife Nina Sobotta, was that many of the troublemakers appeared to be outsiders.”

    https://www.startribune.com/riots-arson-leave-minnesota-communities-of-color-devastated/570921492/

    When you pay for a subscription to the New York Times or the Washington Post, this is what you’re paying for, this is what you’re supporting.

    Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter wins Best Supporting Actor for his active role in minority-owned businesses destroyed.

    1. “Riots, arson leave Minnesota communities of color devastated”

      This can’t be true! I have just been flipping back and forth between the 3 major network evening news programs and they mentioned no such thing. They have had stories about Defense Secretary Mark Esper turning on Trump. Trump lying about why he went to the White House bunker, all four cops being charged, some “peaceful” protesters saying black lives matter and demanding change (although none mentioned the weekly black on black body count in Chicago and other major cities). Topped it all off with the new talking point about everyone has to kneel led by corona doctors.

      But no mention of the mostly peaceful protesters leaving Minnesota (and many other) communities of color devastated.

      1. Jeff here’s a different kind of community of color, pic taken last week a few miles above my campsite:

        https://ibb.co/q1FxpTy

        Region VIII representing. And yeah, it was a burn area, the scrub oak are thriving, the aspens are blooming now.

    2. “The antagonists were racially mixed at first, he said, but were nearly all white by Thursday night as protesters took over the Third Precinct.”

      Lost in all this is how a large share of White people now have as little stake in the system as Black people did back in 1967.

      Some of this is about police brutality against Afro-Americans. A lot of it is not.

      1. Lost in all this is how a large share of White people now have as little stake in the system as Black people did back in 1967.

        Good point. Not sure I’m seeing many of those people though. Antifa seems to skew trustafarian to my eyes.

    1. Those free double cheeseburgers are delicious! Why go back to work? Their burgers are single patty and have no cheese.

      1. Now some protestors want Whites to kneel down and apologize to them.

        It will be a cold day in hell that I will do that. Further, stop blaming me for something that happened in this Nations history that I had nothing to do with and isn’t going on today.

        Go ahead buy into the false narrative and never figure out anything. Pick yourself up from the boots that have been provided for for over half a century. Stop blaming the White race for your failures. ( Words I won’t be able to say to the crowd)

        1. “Now some protestors want Whites to kneel down and apologize to them.”

          What’s next: Decapitations?

          1. A whole laundry llist is emerging of demands that is extortion if you ask me.

            They arrested all those cops , so these protests are morphing into some long list of demands such as defunding the police and White people kneeling and making apology for I don’t know what.

            Look, this is getting weirder and weirder.

          2. White people kneeling and making apology

            Not necessarily an apology. If the police gesture that they are not the enemy of the people peacefully protesting it is not such a bad thing. It doesn’t mean they are kneeling to arsonists, looters and murderers.

        2. Now some protestors want Whites to kneel down and apologize to them.

          Sure. The chances of me ever doing something like that are ZERO. I had nothing to do with slavery or any of that nonsense and I don’t plan on apologizing for it or paying for it.

          This victim mentality is getting really old, as is the race war that the media is fomenting. I fail to see how it would turn out well for the left if it ever was “go time.”

          1. I fail to see how it would turn out well for the left if it ever was “go time.”

            I’m starting to see a few lefty/Antifa tweets along the lines of “we’ve got guns too” to try to shut up the right. While that may be true in some individual cases I don’t think they have a full understanding of the both the current situation as well as “go time”. They see the hundreds trying to harass them on their own turf but they don’t see the millions waiting quietly outside the city centers.

          2. I don’t think they have a full understanding of the both the current situation as well as “go time”.

            Not to mention that many of their opponents are veterans who know how to fight, and as you mentioned, their numbers are huge.

            The antifa weenies know this, and their threats to come to suburbia and exurbia are empty bluffs.

          3. On a related note… Two different Walmarts I visited yesterday had no ammo or shotgun shells of any caliber/gauge.

            Then I went to Sportsmans Warehouse. They had some ammo but popular calibers were completely sold out. I was able to get a box of 20 gauge shells. There was also a line of people waiting for their turn at the gun sales counter.

    1. waaaaah i want to sell my parents house (actually part mine) for top dollar with 22 bids and i may never get that chance to award this precious house to a lucky high winner………..

    1. For me it worst that this Cop was trying to take the air from such a sick man

      Of course the Defense is going to say that George Floyd’s death wasn’t caused by what we saw on the tape.

    2. So, if I understand this correctly, George Floyd had coronavirus, past history of heart disease(?), fentanyl, meth, and a knee on his neck. So I guess the $64 trillion question is, which one of these caused his death?

      1. He was on parole following a 5-yr prison sentence for home invasion armed robbery, and he was being arrested for suspicion of forgery, e.g., passing a fake $20. Any judge would know that an idiot like George wouldn’t have the skill set to forge currency, but the parole violation meant he was going back inside, so he resisted arrest.

        1. But still we all saw cruel excessive force done to Mr
          Floyd on the ground.

          But the Cops will no doubt have a Defense. I’m wondering if they can even find a Court House the case can be tried in that won’t be burned down.

          1. we all saw cruel excessive force

            No we did not. We saw a knee on the neck. Not where the wind pipe is, rather on the side. We do not know how much pressure was applied, was it enough to cut off one of the carotid arteries? Why were two other cops kneeling on him behind the SUV blocked camera view?

            We really don’t know jack about this yet, yes a disturbing video.

          2. Though ugly, emerging facts suggest a less clear cut case than the MSM suggests. Suppose he was resisting arrest due to a parole violation, and he went into cardiac arrest and died when the cop was merely trying to subdue him? Would it be murder or manslaughter?

            Two things are for sure:
            1) An OJ type jury will convict him of murder regardless of the facts of the case.
            2) If the murder conviction doesn’t go through, the looters will try to burn the country down.

          3. “We saw a knee on the neck. Not where the wind pipe is, rather on the side.”

            Correct. The carotid arteries are toward the front of the neck on either side of your esophagus (food pipe). You can feel your artery’s pulse by surrounding your esophagus with your thumb and fingers and push inward. It’s a fact that medical problems frequently arise from restrained people being left face down too long, particularly the over-weight and especially the obese. A hot sidewalk or street can cause injury or death.

            Anyway, look at the photo again, the knee pressure was applied to the rear half of the neck as initial restraint training dictates. His ankles should have been bound, and then he should have been rolled 90-degrees to his side, a minute or two at most.

            https://imgur.com/a/H4dRsq2

        2. Portraying Floyd as some sort of upstanding citizen is as absurd as alleging his neck attacked the officer’s knee.

        1. You know Blue Skye you have a point that we don’t know how much pressure was applied. The thing is Floyd was saying that he couldn’t breath. Doesn’t that imply that the pressure was excessive.

          Why did this Cop do this for 8 minutes. I don’t know maybe this Cop spaced out ,who knows. That’s the purpose of a trial I guess.

          1. Why did this Cop do this for 8 minutes

            I have no idea. I think that you can’t yell much if your breathing is cut off. The artery to the brain…I don’t know.

        2. You can an expert to stay whatever you want them to say. See, e.g., Michael Baden. Bodycam footage is what will really matter as well as the prosecution’s ability to prove intent.

        1. “Coronavirus, obviously!”

          No way, George followed the “shelter-at-home” request from the authorities.

  38. I just finished watching “Planet of the Humans.”

    With the exception of a biopic I watched during an international flight last year, this is the first time in many years I’ve watched a movie from beginning to end.

    I always had a gut feeling the “green energy movement” was BS. This film shows it’s worse than mere BS now that big money has taken it over.

    1. I really need to get over my revulsion at that film maker and watch it (the last one I was able to was “Roger and Me”).

      I remember back in grade school some of the other students bringing to class a notebook with a cover that had a picture of colorful flora and fauna being run over by a steel bulldozer driven by a cold, emotionless robot, and behind the robot was a scene of darkness, filth, skyscrapers and highways. Even at that young and naive an age I was turned away from that message — it felt inexplicably like something was being forced on us by people who could not be trusted.

      Then when I got older and went to college, I read the wrong books that explained what was going on with those things I saw when I was younger:

      http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/ecology-environmental_movement.html

      It’s interesting to see how, in the decades since, they have done a complete 180 degree pivot on the subject of technology, yet are still pushing the exact, same fundamental message with it. As if they’re trying over and over again to come up with the right message that will enable them to convince you to allow them to enslave you. and at the end of the day that motive gets exposed again and again.

      1. From that link: “In the nineteenth century, Europe’s population grew by 300 percent—which is the best proof of the fact that for the first time in human history, industry gave the great masses of people a chance to survive.”

        True, but one point the movie is making is that the population is exploding, but everyone wants to consume freely, and that this isn’t sustainable.

        Certainly we could dial back globalism/consumerism without living like lower animals. However, negative population growth and/or less consumption is not good for business under current economic paradigms. In particular, giant corporations and billionaires might not be so rich.

        1. I should also add, it appears Rand wrote those essays in about 1970. When the world’s population was around half of what it is now. And great masses of it were still living in what would be called deep poverty.

          Now that the population has doubled, and consumption of natural resources and manufactured items has soared, would even Ayn still say damn the torpedoes and let’s all keep consuming unchecked?

          Disclosure: I support negative population growth, and did my part by not having children (I’m now “middle-aged”). 😉

          1. I agree with you that there is a middle ground somewhere, and that humans consume far too much.

            Once you get to a point past all of the initial brainwashing, you start to see the flaws and holes in the arguments, and you can get on with your life knowing that she wasn’t right about everything.

            The problem is that, as usual we are left with two extremes — people who don’t know how to say when enough is enough, and other people who feel compelled to correct them because they’re incapable of correcting themselves.

          3. Yes, but it not by us, as the U.S. is not the part of the planet that is at the root of the problem.

        2. True, but one point the movie is making is that the population is exploding, but everyone wants to consume freely, and that this isn’t sustainable.

          While Moore wasn’t overt about it, his message is that there needs to be a lot fewer people in the world.

  40. In case you have any doubts whether now is a good time to buy stocks, just remember: Unlimited Quarantinive Easing is unlimited.

    1. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
      Markets Briefing Equities
      Global stock rally wavers as investors eye more support measures
      Traders pause for breath ahead of European Central Bank monetary policy meeting
      The loss of momentum for Asian equities came ahead of the ECB’s monetary policy meeting on Thursday
      © AP
      Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong 10 minutes ago

      A rally in global stocks lost pace on Thursday as investors seeking signs of further coronavirus economic support measures paused for breath ahead of an important European Central Bank decision.

      In afternoon trading in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan’s benchmark Topix index gained 0.3 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.4 per cent higher. China’s CSI 300 of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index both slipped 0.1 per cent.

      Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 closed up 1.4 per cent to notch a fourth consecutive day of gains as economic data showed an improved global picture from April. Futures tipped the S&P 500 to slip 0.1 per cent when trading begins on Wall Street later in the day.

      The loss of momentum for Asian equities came ahead of the ECB’s monetary policy meeting on Thursday, which will focus on economic growth projections for the eurozone and the possible extension of the bank’s €750bn bond-buying programme.

      The ECB is widely expected to extend the programme, which at its current pace of about €30bn a month will run out of firepower by October.

      Marchel Alexandrovich, senior European economist at Jefferies, said that while “there is no immediate need to announce further [monetary easing] for a few months yet, neither is there a reason to delay the inevitable, and a €500bn boost . . . will confirm the ECB’s commitment to staying active in the markets into next year”.
      …

  41. Brazil seems on track to surpass the U.S. as the country with the highest number of active COVID-19 cases.

  42. Minneapolis — All around Lake Street, hundreds of business owners now face difficult choices:

    https://www.startribune.com/schafer-all-around-lake-street-hundreds-of-business-owners-now-face-difficult-choices/570986382/

    In The Bronx, Small Business Owners Reel From Night Of Looting And Vandalism:

    https://gothamist.com/news/bronx-small-business-owners-reel-night-looting-and-vandalism

    Neighborhoods and jobs destroyed, that’s how you protest George Floyd’s murder.

    1. Small Business Owners Reel From Night Of Looting And Vandalism

      Not to worry, the celebrities will lead the way in raising money for the people who had their livelihood destroyed by the rioters.

      Or will they?

      Celebrities Contribute Bail Funds for Black Lives Matter Protesters

      By Fang Block
      June 1, 2020

      Over the weekend, Teigen, 34, took to Twitter to announce her plan to donate $100,000 to help bail out those arrested in protests around the country. After she received criticism for supporting “rioters and criminals,” she doubled her donation, to $200,000.

      https://www.barrons.com/articles/celebrities-contribute-bail-funds-for-black-lives-matter-protesters-01591049957

    2. business owners now face difficult choices

      As in take the insurance money and run to the suburbs?

  43. Didn’t Brazil not lock down at all?
    But, I’m thinking these protests in USA has got to increase the cases. Some of the Police might get the virus being out in the thick of the crowds.

    1. Last I heard the police had the highest rates of infection. Maybe they’re out there spreading it rather than getting it.

  44. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/02/home-prices-in-april-saw-biggest-gain-in-2-years.html

    Nationally, values rose 5.4% annually in April, a sharp increase from the 4.5% annual increase in March, according to CoreLogic. The gain in prices was driven by a record drop in the supply of homes for sale. Not only did some sellers pull their listings in April, but most of those who planned to list decided to wait.

    Oh, I don’t know, do you think that perhaps the “shortage” exists because a lot of delusional sellers have pulled homes off of the market, because there aren’t any customers willing to pay the stupid high asking prices the sellers think they’re entitled to, but ultimately some of those sellers are for economic reasons going to have to sell at some point, so those unrealistic asking prices are going to have to start coming down?

    Is admitting real estate prices are in an unsustainable bubble that unbearable for you, Diana?

  45. Kneel Drew kneel.

    Drew Brees apologizes, is ‘sick for the way my comments were perceived’

    By Cindy Boren
    June 4, 2020 at 9:05 a.m. EDT

    New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees apologized to “anyone I hurt” in the face of backlash after his comments about why he refuses to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice.

    “I would like to apologize to my friends, teammates, the City of New Orleans, the black community, NFL community and anyone I hurt with my comments yesterday. In speaking with some of you, it breaks my heart to know the pain I have caused,” he wrote on Instagram.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/cindy-boren/

    1. Drew Brees will have another chance to kneel when the horse drawn carriage and casket roll down main street.

    2. You’d think that since he’s a the end of his career (he’s 41), and doesn’t have to worry about money anymore (he’s worth $120M), that he might stick to his beliefs. But apparently he wants a nice TV contract, or maybe an executive position in the NO Saints management team (like John Elway does with the Broncos) after he retires, and that won’t happen unless he bends the knee to his masters. The thing is, it’s probably already too late to salvage that.

    3. I’m waiting for one of these guys to get a spine and stick to their guns. It’s about time whites stood up to this sham.

      1. I’m waiting for one of these guys to get a spine

        I guess it’s more important for him to get into the Hall of Fame. If he sticks to his guns I could see him becoming an NFL unperson, with all his stats and wins erased from NFL records.

        1. Doesn’t matter. What has he done wrong? Nothing. He has the support of most of the population. Once people take a stand, others start coming on board and pretty soon the entire narrative is under scrutiny.

          1. I don’t disagree with you, but at the moment the NFL and the TV Networks are hopelessly woke and SJW. The NFL is paying for this in falling ratings, but they seem to fear more the wrath of the SJWs who will demand that advertisers withdraw their support should the NFL refuse to bend the knee.

            If a zillionaire athlete won’t take a stance, who will? If you work for Corporate America you know that speaking out against some SJW platform can get you fired. Drew can sail into the sunset with his $120M, but if you’re a wage slave, losing your job can be traumatic, especially if you’re middle aged.

          2. The NFL is paying for this in falling ratings, but they seem to fear more the wrath of the SJWs who will demand that advertisers withdraw their support should the NFL refuse to bend the knee.

            It’s the whole “squeaky wheel gets the grease” thing. Until the other side rises up against these libs, we’ll continue to see more and more oppression as the country caters to their demands in order to calm the stamping of feet and gnashing of teeth.

          3. Once people take a stand, others start coming on board Do you remember G. A. Custer’s Last Stand?

          4. Do you remember G. A. Custer’s Last Stand?

            I’m afraid I wasn’t born in the 1800s to remember that. I did, however, read about it in school. I’m not sure what that has to do with this, though.

          6. His supporters kinda fell off.

            I need to refresh my memory on the Battle of Little Bighorn or whatever.

          8. They all died.

            And only a few short years later my Polish relatives on my mom’s side starting arriving to mine the coal just a bit southeast of where they died.

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