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How Do We Stop Bleeding Money Before It Gets Worse?

A report from Bisnow. “Landlords are under pressure, and optimism is in short supply among mom-and-pops and midsized owners. ‘It’s a dire situation,’ MassLandlords Executive Director Douglas Quattrochi said. ‘Landlords are also dipping into their savings. I’ve talked to many folks who are seniors, and they’re tapping into retirement funds to keep going. Their property was supposed to be part of their retirement income, but it’s become a net loss.'”

“California Rental Housing Association President Sid Lakireddy said he is hearing from a lot of landlords who want out — out of being a landlord or, in some cases, out of California. ‘I get calls from people who want to quit,’ he said. ‘I spoke to an owner of about 100 units recently. This month, he said, non-collection was 7%, and he expects that number to rise. He wanted to sell.'”

From Realty Biz News. “Question from Brad and Angela: Hi Brian, We don’t know if we are typical landlords but tenants missing multiple rent payments are threatening our financial security. We both work day jobs with a combined income that is a little above $225,000 (before taxes). Over the past six years, we have bought six rentals (4 houses and 2 condos). We own one house outright but have mortgages on the other five. Two renters are three months behind in the rent and one is two months behind. Obviously, the drop in cash flow is killing us financially. We’ve gone from collecting monthly rents totaling $8,875 down to $4,200. After mortgages, taxes, insurance, and utilities, we have negative cash flow of about $700 each month. Our rental properties were providing us with an additional income of over $3,000 each month, but for the last several months we’ve been paying out of our reserve fund and that will soon be gone. How do we stop bleeding money before it gets worse?”

“Answer: Hello Brad and Angela. You’re not alone. Many landlords are really starting to feel the pinch and there is no indication when things will get better. My suggestion is that you keep the communication positive because we are all in this together. Brad and Angela, you see where this is going; we all need to work through this together. Ask your mortgage companies what options they can help with. Just by reaching out, you might be able to convince them not to declare you defaulted on the loan.”

The Real Deal on New York. “A Upper East Side condo conversion just sold at auction, a possible sign of distress in New York City’s real estate market. Jason Carter of Carter Management Corp. paid $51 million for the 65,000-square-foot, 14-unit project at 305 East 61st Street, according to Commercial Observer. Developer Mitchell Marks’ conversion of the former art facility had a projected sellout of $105 million.”

“Marks and his partners bought the property for $40 million in 2016 in an all-cash transaction. But the development quickly ran into trouble after the partners filed lawsuits against each other and the project could no longer meet its debt service payments, according to CO. The project is still under construction but is nearly complete. The project represents one of the growing signs of distress in Manhattan’s commercial real estate market as lenders seek to file foreclosure suits or projects head into bankruptcy.”

From Mansion Global on New York. “Manhattan’s high-end real estate market saw a slight—relative—uptick last week, with 14 homes entering into contract in the week ending Sept. 20, according to the weekly luxury report from Olshan Realty. The median asking price of the 14 homes that went into contract last week was nearly $6.2 million. The average days on market was 521, and the average discount from original ask to final listing price was 20%.”

“The priciest home to find a buyer last week was a triplex penthouse condo at 520 West 28th Street, designed by Zaha Hadid, which was sold by the developer, Related. The apartment, now complete, was sold off of floor plans. The apartment—last asking $24.95 million—had undergone a serious price cut from its original $50 million price tag.”

The Daily Camera in Colorado. “How long before some force will be needed? From the smallest to the largest commercial landlord — and the banks that hold the mortgages on their properties — that question is beginning to be heard six months into the COVID-19 crisis. ‘There are rumblings starting now about the current state of affairs,’ said Jim Ditzel, managing partner at Niwot-based Summit Commercial Brokers. ‘The impact is in progress.'”

“Banks and landlords alike have been forced to begin foreclosure proceedings or other legal actions. A Comfort Inn and Suites in Johnstown is at risk of foreclosure after lender FirstBank said it was behind on its remaining loan of just under $6.4 million. Lender Pine Financial Group is foreclosing on property owned by a commercial real estate broker in Broomfield. And Ten Eleven Pearl LLC, the landlord for Swedish outdoor retailer Fjallraven’s Boulder store, sued the brand in late August, accusing the company of not paying rent from April through August. It wants $127,381 in damages and is asking Boulder District Court to repossess the 3,830-square-foot property.”

The Denver Post in Colorado. “The apartment market will likely continue to struggle in the months ahead, said Shane Ozment, vice chairman with Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily. ‘We aren’t seeing a lot of rent growth anywhere in the metro,’ said Ozment. The federal eviction moratorium the remainder of this year means apartment landlords, especially in older buildings, face additional income losses, adding to their woes.”

The Enterprise Record in California. “For the real estate market as a whole, as of the last two months, ‘we’re kind of flat,’ Coldwell Banker Real Estate’s Carl Henker in Chico said. The median listed price of homes in Chico is $345,000 although the final sale price averages at $322,400. There is the possibility that the extension of the eviction moratorium by Gov. Gavin Newsom until Feb. 1, 2021 could impact landlords not collecting as many rents from their tenants.”

“‘That could create some problems down the road because if small landlords are not collecting rent, they still have to make house payments,’ Henker said. ‘It could put more homes on the market.’ However, ‘There have been quite a few price reductions in the market … some people are still overpricing them when they put them on the market.'”

From SCV News in California. “Several landlords have filed a lawsuit against the state, Los Angeles County and multiple Southern California cities, including Santa Clarita, over eviction bans, seeking reimbursement for unpaid rent due to COVID-19 eviction-protection ordinances. No ‘mortgage moratorium’ has been established either, the plaintiffs allege, adding that it has resulted in ‘many (having) had to move money from other investments to service the mortgages,’ reads the lawsuit.”

From Los Angeles Magazine in California. “Rental units in some of L.A.’s most expensive and luxurious buildings are bearing the brunt of what economists call ‘downward pressure.’ The result? The cost of leasing so-called Class A rental properties—sleek apartments with amenities including Spin gyms, poolside cabanas, and dog spas—is headed down as vacancies increase. ‘To this point in the pandemic, high-end luxury apartments are faring much worse than other segments of the market,’ says Steve Basham, managing analyst at CoStar Group. ‘There are a limited number of renter households that can afford luxury apartments in L.A., so competition is more intense at the top of the market. On top of that, virtually every new project that is built in L.A. is a Class A luxury project.'”

“Hope + Flower, another newly completed luxury high-rise with a wellness center and sauna pavilions, is offering up to ten weeks rent free for a 24-month lease. ‘This doesn’t mean DTLA is going to die as a viable economic unit,’ says Stuart Gabriel, professor of finance at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. ‘Ultimately, this was happening anyway because it has simply become too expensive.'”

The Orange County Register in California. “New Home Co., a small Orange County-based homebuilder, has seen signed contracts double so far this summer as it focuses on lower-priced housing. The company, once known for its high-end housing, now offers a broader price range among its homes. Its average selling price in the year ended June 30 was $826,000 vs. 2016 when it peaked at $2 million. Two of its newer Southern California projects are Nova in Rancho Cucamonga, 135 homes with a $400,000 average price, and Sterling in Rancho Mission Viejo, where 60 homes have an average $1 million price tag.”

The Real Deal on California. “Steep price cuts are part of selling luxury real estate in Los Angeles. But rarely is a nearly nine-digit listing cut in half the same year it hit the market. That’s what happened with a 9,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style mansion at 1142 Calle Vista Drive in Beverly Hills. Nearly nine months after hitting the market for $98 million on Jan. 1, the home’s price has been slashed to $49 million.”

“At that price point, a 50-discount is about as common as a pool that doesn’t have the word ‘infinity’ in front of it, and is a clear sign the pandemic has shattered whatever was left of ‘aspirational pricing.’ Los Angeles luxury sellers will periodically cut a smaller percentage off an asking price every six months or so until they get more bites. For example, over a similar period from February to September, Eli Broad dropped the asking price on his Malibu beach house by 17 percent, from $75 million to $62 million.”

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This Post Has 143 Comments

  1. ‘There have been quite a few price reductions in the market … some people are still overpricing them when they put them on the market’

    Eat yer crowz Thornberg.

    1. Without more information, it’s hard to say what a fifty percent off sale price from a $50 million or $100 million initial list price really even means. Has the market value actually dropped by half due to COVID-19, or did the seller list at 100% above market value, with no effect of COVID-19 on the sale price, or something else?

      1. “…over a similar period from February to September, Eli Broad dropped the asking price on his Malibu beach house by 17 percent, from $75 million to $62 million.”

        And still no sale to show for it, over a seven month period of ongoing price declines.

        I happen to know from firsthand experience that one can easily sell a home within a matter of a few days, having done so twice. The secret is pricing to market value. If you aren’t willing to take this small, simple step, you may find yourself keeping your home on the market indefinitely.

        1. Well, at the very high end, since the pool of buyers is very small and buying such a house is a luxury, not a necessity, you might have to price well below what you might get if you were more patient.

          1. if you were more patient

            This Poway property originally listed in April 2019 and recently went pending. It’s across from a small winery and party venue with small shops.

          2. Or wait for a business cycle recovery plus years of inflation to find a buyer willing to pay your wishing price…unless you get very unlucky with the timing of your sale, as did Japanese people who wanted to unload real estate assets post-1990, and found prices in a multidecade swoon.

  2. ‘for the last several months we’ve been paying out of our reserve fund and that will soon be gone. How do we stop bleeding money before it gets worse?’

    ‘we are all in this together’

    3. Brangela can’t handle a $25K shortfall over past 6 months? What are they doing with their $225K combined income? Are they saving any of it?

      1. Have you priced luxury vehicles lately? I know a couple in about that income range, and they have a decked out super duper pickup and a Tesla S

      2. “…Are they saving any of it?…”

        $25K is only about 6 weeks gross income.

        If Brangela think they are ‘being killed’ when 2 / 6 renters are non-payers, what is going to happen when that ratio increases to 3 / 6 or 4 / 6?

        Brangela: Be sure for both of you to check in later this year and tell us how things are working out for you.

      3. Brangela can’t handle a $25K shortfall over past 6 months?

        The article does say they are using their reserve fund to meet costs. It sounds like they don’t like to have to do that, nor feel it’s fair they should be required to.

  3. ‘No ‘mortgage moratorium’ has been established either, the plaintiffs allege, adding that it has resulted in ‘many (having) had to move money from other investments to service the mortgages’

    ‘we are all in this together’

    1. That statement: ‘We are all in this together’ is truly sickening if for the very reason that it is obvious hypocrisy. Small stores had to shutdown although they could have offered curbside pickups just as the chain restaurants did not 50 yards away (and they offered food vs sealed products). Small stores had to close whereas the publicly traded big stores did not although ‘social distancing’ rules could have been just as easily followed. Don’t you dare congregate to protest CV-1984 lock-downs little sheep unless of course you are peacefully protesting an SJW woke cause like tearing down statues, burning city blocks and or doing a smash and grab or in other words looting because you ‘needed’ the goods.

      ‘We are all in this together’ was stated no less than 6 times in a J P M mandatory training video regarding going back to the office.

      Being together means living life, social interaction with facial queues (no masks) and relying on one another in the market place. The proponents of this entire fiasco are truly evil little dictators. Destroying social cohesion, supporting riots (yes J P M and the rest of the woke banking and tech companies gave money to BLM), dubious science and perhaps mandated tracing and vaccines with limited testing is the opposite of being in ‘this’ together.

      On masks : https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/09/no_author/768441-2/

  4. ‘To this point in the pandemic, high-end luxury apartments are faring much worse than other segments of the market…There are a limited number of renter households that can afford luxury apartments in L.A., so competition is more intense at the top of the market. On top of that, virtually every new project that is built in L.A. is a Class A luxury project’

    Of course Costar warned these clowns not to build only luxury – NOT!

        1. “I found the rubbing suggestion disturbing.”

          I have found that suggestion disturbing for almost 30 years.

          New details about 1993 Jackson case

          Alleged witnesses speak for first time, settlement claim from second boy

          By Josh Mankiewicz
          Dateline NBC
          updated 9/3/2004 7:54:52 PM ET

          The year was 1993, and the biggest star in the world was Michael Jackson. The hit song was “Black or White,” his universal appeal so powerful that at the Super Bowl, he was the halftime show, his message that children can heal the world beamed to millions.

          But that year, Jackson’s wholesome, Peter Pan image would be tarnished by lurid accusations of child molestation — and a huge civil settlement with his accuser would keep many of the details of the case secret.

          Mankiewicz: “You saw love notes in the 1993 case?”

          Rizzo: “In 1993 all he did was write love notes to the kid.”

          Mankiewicz: “How many are we talking about?”

          Rizzo: “The kid had a handful of them, that Jackson would write him. Telling him how much he loved him, can’t wait ’til he sees him again. We’re going play on the floor. A little game he used to call, ‘ruba,’ with these little boys. It means you rub me, I rub you.”

          http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5906855/ns/dateline_nbc-newsmakers/t/new-details-about-jackson-case/

    1. So most of the increase was from the NorthEast. I dont get it – folks in the financial sectors, the retail HQ sectors, advertising/marketing will start to have job losses. Then the associated law and accounting firms. Are folks so forgetful.

      from: CNBC article.
      Sales were hampered only by lack of supply. There were 1.49 million homes for sale at the end of August, down 18.6% annually to a 3.0-month supply. The number of homes for sale when sales were last this robust, in 2006, was more than double the current supply.

      Regionally, sales were strongest in the Northeast, rising 13.8% month to month. Sales were 1.4% higher in the Midwest and 0.8% higher in both the South and West. The Northeast saw some of the strictest shutdown rules early in the coronavirus pandemic, so the recovery now may be making up for that.

      1. I’m certainly seeing a bizarre suspended animation delusional state in Seattle. I assume there’s a sense that tech will not only be buffered from the inevitable economic downturn, but might actually make gains (e.g. Zoom). The frenzied bidding for and buying homes that fall just above 900K is bizarre to me. It could have been the perception that rates would only stay this low for so long. (I think that is incorrect.) Someone recently suggested that a psychology of scarcity as primed by toilet paper, etc. shortages might still be lighting up our lizard brains and inducing panic buying of homes. Over the past week, however, I’ve noticed an increasing stream of price reduced messages via Redfin, and I would suspect as we approach the black hole that will be the election, things could get weird fast. And then on to January 1 and the end of foreclosure moratoria. So… once again, we find ourselves in interesting times. I am grateful for the information Ben provides because it prevents me from diving in right now (and likely saving a bundle). Thanks, Ben!

        1. “It could have been the perception that rates would only stay this low for so long.”

          Other things equal, higher rates should result in lower home purchase demand.

  10. Walking past a realtor’s office in Brookline MA yesterday, I snapped a photo of a listing for The Overlook at St. Gabriel’s. The Overlook is a “stunning transformation” of an abandoned monastery into luxury apartments. In July I learned of this “historic” development and per the website that studio apartments started at *only* $2,520 per month! So affordable for so much luxury, in Brighton no less! Brighton, the poor next door neighbor of wealthy Brookline was once considered a somewhat gritty, hardscrapple blue collar destination but….fear not, no longer! The photo I snapped yesterday proved that indeed “only $2,520!” was the starting rent for a studio.

    I checked out the website today and oh my goodness, studio apartments are now starting at only $1,709! That’s a pretty significant price reduction! Upon further investigation I cannot find that price anywhere but I do see a studio – “The Avon”, 545 square feet, starting at only…$3,235! Now *that* is what I call a deal.

    https://www.theoverlookstgabriels.com/st-gabriels-brighton-massachusetts/discover

    1. I learned of this “historic” development and per the website that studio apartments started at *only* $2,520 per month!

      That will sit empty while the people who normally would rent a studio apt. will be forced to rent overpriced rooms in boarding houses from reckless gamblers.

    2. I doubt the monastery was “abandoned”. More likely whichever order ran it sold it and moved the monastery to a more rural setting, and put the difference into a fund.

      There was an abbey in Boulder that did just that. They sold the Boulder property and moved out to the sticks, near the Wyoming border.

      http://www.walburga.org/

      1. I saw the word “abandoned” in the subject line of an article in the Boston Globe about the monastery. There is also a feature about it and the redevelopment on “abandonedonline.net”. Maybe it’s not the right word but that’s where I got it.

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

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

    *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

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

  13. It is impossible to know the financial condition of somebody without having inside knowledge, but I can’t help but look around at all of the brand new diesel trucks, RVs, motorcycles, boats and other toys that people are parading around and call 100% bullsh!t. This is like 2005 on steroids. This is without taking into account the horrific economic carnage we’re in the middle of.

    We just lost another 850,000+ jobs this past week, and these massive job losses have been going on for over 6 months straight. And I think most people are overlooking where the next cuts are coming from – high paying white collar tech jobs. You know, the work-from-home crowd who are vacationing in Maine when they work in California. (Sorry, Carl). These people are not immune, they just dodged the first swinging axe. Things are about to get extremely ugly.

    1. “These people are not immune”

      Actually they are more easier to be replaced by the ones in Pune or Bratislava.

      1. Vietnam that’s our competitive advantage massive hiring in Vietnam so I start work at home at around noon and stay working until 10pm.

        These people are not immune, they just dodged the first swinging axe. Things are about to get extremely ugly.’

        yea probably

    2. “We just lost another 850,000+ jobs this past week, and these massive job losses have been going on for over 6 months straight. And I think most people are overlooking where the next cuts are coming from – high paying white collar tech jobs.”

      I think we all know this is true. People will very quickly have gone from ‘What will my bonus be?’ to ‘Glad I have a job.’ to perhaps ‘I think we are running out of lamp posts and tree limbs for all of these politicians.’

    3. I can’t help but notice the RV parked across the street from us, day-in, day-out. I wonder if the local HOA has rules about treating the local streets as a trailer park?

      2. In the Bay Area people living in RVs get chased from one street to another all the time. Most of them have jobs they just can’t afford an apartment. With first, last, and damage deposit it can cost 10K to move into an apartment. Hopefully, that’s changing.

      4. Sounds like a wonderful place to buy a house, where strung out junkies can be parked right out front in their dilapidated RV.

        1. It’s the exception around here, so far, at least.

          Paying north of $800 grand for a 40 y-o working class SFR is not something I plan to do. But the neighborhood is relatively quiet and sheltered from the urban chaos we’ve read about in the MSM all summer.

      5. I’ve actually considered doing the Highway 1 squat with an upscale trailer, but it’s just too noisy.

        1. California’s Highway 1 passes through many counties. Mendocino County is the only one where you might get a few days peace parking anywhere near the highway. You can’t really live on the Rincon anymore.

          1. They keep moving… out to the parallel streets at night and then back to the beach in the morning. Not much trouble if you got nothing else to do.

    4. A lot of banks etc. promised no layoffs for 2020 (although Wells Fargo has had to reneg on this). All bets are off for 2021

      A close relative works for a G-SIB (top 30 global systematically important bank). They are making plans for layoffs come CY Q1. Jamie Diamond at Chase is having his surrogates make similar hints. After the banks, the lawfirms and accounting firms, and consulting firms get hit very quickly.

      The smart money is stashing away cash. A casual acquaintance who lives on in a upsacle house on a golf course in NJ, apparently paused all his memberships include golf (and wine club) to make sure that they save as much as possible.

      The problems with auto leases is that you have to pay the termination fee.

    5. I can’t help but look around at all of the brand new diesel trucks, RVs, motorcycles, boats and other toys that people are parading around and call 100% bullsh!t.

      There’s some pretty spectacular stuff sitting in the high end RV parks right now. Never seen so many new Duramax GMCs in my life.

      And I think most people are overlooking where the next cuts are coming from – high paying white collar tech jobs. You know, the work-from-home crowd who are vacationing in Maine when they work in California. (Sorry, Carl).

      Hahah…maybe. If the products we make stop selling then you are definitely correct. But for now SSDs for data centers keep selling like crazy. Maybe a couple percent off the peak but still quite well. I’m waiting to see if that crashes…if it does we may be full time in the RV. Or back to China.

    7. You know, the work-from-home crowd who are vacationing in Maine when they work in California. (Sorry, Carl).

      Some are easier to replace with low wage foreigners than others.

      But I share your dismay at the way people are spending. One of my colleagues locally has been walking on the edge of the layoff knife for years and her husband is in the same boat. Between the two they’re in the mid 250’s. They save like crazy into their 401K’s, yet I learned that they just dropped 100K on a pickup/RV combo. Heck, the guy next door did the same, and his wife doesn’t work.

      1. “…But I share your dismay at the way people are spending…”

        Anyone with 2 eyeballs can see the financial comet coming our way, but it seems the majority are oblivious / indifferent.

        But, I shouldn’t care how big a financial hole others dig themselves into, should I? After all, spending $100K on a pickup/RV combo that they don’t need keeps the economy going doesn’t it?

        That is, until the comet hits and we all end up paying for it.

        1. … and it provides opportunity for people that can actually afford a 50k rv/pickup combo, when the debtors loose them en-mass.

        2. These stories are just more anecdotal drops in the bucket – the madness is everywhere. The financially stretched spending 1M on a 70 year old shack in a high tax environment, central banks hitting control-P, media trying to normalize their pedo lifestyles, marxists masquerading as scholars furiously rewriting history and a corrupt scumbag with advanced dementia running for president.

          This is our new normal. No resolution is possible without serious PAIN.

      2. I learned that they just dropped 100K on a pickup/RV combo

        I think the current situation has made people more willing to buy their dream house if they plan to bug in and a mobile toy you can live in if they plan to bug out.

    1. “eeet up donkeys….. eeet up.”

      After seeing “eeet up donkeys” I thought about posting the YouTube Deliverance “Squeal Like a Pig” video but after the “I would rub that magic genie’” post above I was afraid it would push the entire thread off the tracks.

  15. Downtown Denver is a sh*thole:

    “As the sun rose, tents, plastic sheeting and other items were loaded into trash trucks. A small bulldozer was being used to clear rocks and other debris from the sidewalks near University Prep, a Denver Public Schools elementary charter at 25th and Arapahoe streets. A notice on the University Prep website said students in kindergarten and first grade would start returning to classrooms the week of Oct. 5, and second through fifth graders on Oct. 21.

    People living in houses and apartments in Curtis Park have long complained to city officials about tent-dwellers they have seen using drugs and urinating in public near the school. The tension between the housed and the unhoused flared briefly hours after the clean-up began Tuesday morning when two men walking their dogs claimed a woman packing to move from the encampment pulled out a knife. She said they were heckling her. One of the men grabbed a metal pole. The police were called, and the woman was detained.”

    https://denverite.com/2020/09/22/an-encampment-clean-up-in-curtis-park-delayed-by-snow-started-tuesday-before-sunrise/

        1. Co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center was the uncle of a good friend of mine. My uncle was a director of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

          1. Most of the original founders of the SPLC have been terminated after decades of sexual harassment of the female employees and interns that work there. They were complete scumbags and shakedown artists masquerading as “civil rights” attorneys and designating anyone who challenged the Narrative as “hate groups.”

          2. the original founders

            In my limited experience, the main purpose of a non-profit is to provide six figure salaries to the founders and executives.

          3. In my limited experience, the main purpose of a non-profit is to provide six figure salaries to the founders and executives.

            Especially anything related to “affordable housing”

    2. Downtown any city is a sh!thole. But it is painful to witness Denver’s transformation. I remember when a stroll down the 16th Street Mall was pleasant, and you didn’t have to watch out for bums, panhandlers, muggers, needles or poop.

  17. “California Rental Housing Association President Sid Lakireddy said he is hearing from a lot of landlords who want out — out of being a landlord or, in some cases, out of California. ‘I get calls from people who want to quit,’ he said. ‘I spoke to an owner of about 100 units recently. This month, he said, non-collection was 7%, and he expects that number to rise. He wanted to sell.’”

    Welcome to the Hotel California
    $uch a lovely place (such a lovely place)
    $uch a lovely face
    They’re livin’ it up at the Hotel California
    What a nice $urprise (what a nice $urprise)
    Bring your alibi$

    — The Eagles

  18. My takeaway from the state of the economy right now is that the central bankers have pushed things much, much further than I ever thought possible, and with help from politicians spitting on contract law have somehow managed to squeeze out another year or so of speculative excesses.

    With Jerome ‘The Cuck’ Powell promising unlimited QE to continue a the current rate, or higher, perhaps they can push this into the 2030s before the entire thing melts down in spectacular fashion.

    1. This is just until the election. I suspect Jerome will have a sudden change of heart in November.

      1. Jerome’s globalist pimps don’t want Trump to win. I’m fully expecting to see anther engineered market crash before the elections.

        1. Trump nominated Powell, and so far, Powell has done his bidding. I don’t think that’s gonna change… but soon we shall see!

    2. Whatever became of the bank money laundering story that recently reared its head ever so briefly in the MSM?

      More to come on that soon?

      1. Bankileaks?

        BBC News Navigation
        Sections
        FinCEN Files: All you need to know about the documents leak
        21 September 2020

        Leaked documents involving about $2tn of transactions have revealed how some of the world’s biggest banks have allowed criminals to move dirty money around the world.

        They also show how Russian oligarchs have used banks to avoid sanctions that were supposed to stop them getting their money into the West.

        It’s the latest in a string of leaks over the past five years that have exposed secret deals, money laundering and financial crime.

        What are the FinCEN files?

        The FinCEN files are more than 2,500 documents, most of which were files that banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017. They raise concerns about what their clients might be doing.

        These documents are some of the international banking system’s most closely guarded secrets.
        …

  22. So, there is lots of crater in the press. But does that mean there is any that can be invested in?

    The Vanguard REIT Index fund is down 14.75% YTD. But from such an over-inflated level that it is still up an average of 9.26% per year over a decade.

    You want to but in and overpay those who got that excess return? What has happened to justify that increase? You load sixteen tons, and what do you get, the Baby Boomers get another decade older, and the U.S. has been left deeper in debt.

    On the debt side, if you buy into Vanguard’s mortgage backed securities fund you get a future yield of 1.48%. The GNMA fund? 1.43%. The intermediate term corporate bond fund? 1.02%.

    1. Feels like picking up nickles in front of a steamroller driven by a methhead. It’ll be fine, until it isn’t.

  23. ‘Defund the police’ activist Alyssa Milano calls 911 sparking massive police presence in her quiet California neighborhood claiming an armed an gunman was on her property – but it was really a teen shooting at squirrels with an air gun

    By JILL ISHKANIAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

    PUBLISHED: 12:53 EDT, 22 September 2020

    Actress and ‘Defund the police’ activist Alyssa Milano was quick to call cops when she believed an armed gunman was on her Bell Canyon property on Sunday morning.

    The call ignited a response that included seven Ventura County Sheriffs’ vehicles, one K-9 unit, a police helicopter and one Los Angeles Fire Department team that sat down the street on standby.

    DailyMail.com has obtained exclusive photos showing the first responders coming to the aid of the 47-year-old at her five bed, six bath, 8,000 square foot, $2.5 million home in the upscale gated community that sits just 20 minutes north of Los Angeles.

    Alyssa and her talent agent husband Dave Bugliari, 39, they said, had dialed 911 when they heard what they believed to be gunshots on their 1.39-acre property.

    They allegedly told the emergency hotline the sound ‘scared their dogs’ and made them feel like the gunman was nearby.

    A description was given of a suspect to the officers who was ‘male, 40-years old, with long rifle’.

    ‘It turned out it was a neighborhood teen with an air gun shooting at squirrels,’ a resident told the DailyMail.com.

    The male teenager witnessed the emergency response and later realized he was the cause and turned himself in.

    The officers then had an impromptu meeting with some of the residents in the Bell Canyon community center, confirming what they dubbed, ‘Squirrelgate.’

    In July, the left leaning activist Alyssa tweeted out to her 3.7 million followers a link, urging them to sign the ‘People’s Budget L.A.’ that demands a 90 percent reduction in police funding.

    Alyssa’s tweet appears to be at direct odds with her actions on Sunday when she relied on heavy police presence to protect her

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8756911/Defund-police-activist-Alyssa-Milano-sparks-massive-police-presence-calling-911.html

    1. I’d say it’s crazy quoting the public policy pronouncements of tribalist celebrities who like to shoot off on Twitter, but given what we have for President…

      Who wants to cut off funding to New York City for “de-funding the police” when we spend more money on more police than just about anyone, and thanks to a 20 and out pension that can kick in at age 42, have far more retired cops in Florida than active cops. That isn’t enough? Every interest group in NY thinks the same way.

      Thoughtful, reasonable, fair-minded people are boring.

      1. when we spend more money on more police

        Gosh, didn’t NYC cut the police budget by $1 Billion to appease the Peaceful Protesters?

        Heavy early retirement to Florida sounds like a very poorly managed city. Given what we’ve got for a NYC mayor, it’s not everyone else’s problem.

        1. But it is everyone else’s problem. Almost every city in the United States spends the majority of its budget on public safety. Indeed its usually small cities far from coastal megalopolises that spend the largest percentages of their budgets.

        2. “Gosh, didn’t NYC cut the police budget by $1 Billion to appease the Peaceful Protesters?”

          Nope, it was a con. The assigned the school safety officers and some others who had been housed in the NYPD to other agencies. What they did do is defer one class of new officers. Of course, the police unions said they have no obligation to do their jobs unless they got more money BEFORE that. As do all NYC public employee unions.

          “Heavy early retirement to Florida sounds like a very poorly managed city. Given what we’ve got for a NYC mayor, it’s not everyone else’s problem.”

          The retirement benefits of NYC public employees are determined by the state legislature, which repeatedly votes to increase them. The vast majority of them live in the suburbs, where the legislators are happy to give the unions anything they want.

          The same thing happened to Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth in Texas. The affluent and the officers moved to the suburbs. The state voted to increase benefits. The cities went broke.

      2. “I’d say it’s crazy quoting the public policy pronouncements of tribalist celebrities who like to shoot off on Twitter,”

        I thoroughly enjoy stories about any “Defund the police” nut who calls the police for protection or better yet runs and hides behind them.

        (Sadly, the video of the long haired 25 year old protester running away like a little girl that was posted on this site in no longer there.)

        “Oh, now you want the cops!” taunts directed at vandal who sought refuge behind police

        National File – JUNE 27, 2020

        An interesting scene unfolded earlier this week at what is reportedly Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., where hundreds of vandals arrived with plans to destroy the statue of President Andrew Jackson.

        VIDEO: BLM Vandal Assaults Elderly Man, Runs To Police And Demands Protection When Chased
        IMAGE CREDITS: SCREENSHOT.

        Video footage shows a monument vandal associated with the Black Lives Matter movement running and seeking refuge behind police officers moments after shoving a senior citizens to the ground.

        Black Lives Matter has achieved notoriety for its association with various anti-police sentiments and slogans, such as “Defund/Abolish The Police,” “Kill All Cops,” and “Pigs In A Blanket, Fry Em Like Bacon,” as well as its supporters’ penchant for participating in violence, rioting, and the desecration of monuments.

        An interesting scene unfolded earlier this week at what is reportedly Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., where hundreds of vandals arrived with plans to destroy the statue of President Andrew Jackson.

        In one video, a vandal can be seen running through a group of senior citizen counter-protesters who showed up to defend the monument, shoving and pulling one man to the ground.

        The assailant then turns tail and runs away, chased by the group of senior citizens, including one man using a cane. One counter protester closes the distance and shoves the BLM activist, who momentarily assumes a fighting stance before fleeing into a group of fellow activists and hiding behind a police officer.

        From his new protected position, the assailant screams at one of the counter-protesters, “You gonna hurt me? You gonna hurt me? Huh!”

        “Get the f**k out of here,” a counter protester yells.

        As more police officers arrive on the scene and the assailant starts talking to them and gesturing towards the counter-protesters, a man yells, “Oh, now you want the cops, huh? Now you want the cops, huh? Now you want the cops.”

        https://www.infowars.com/video-blm-vandal-assaults-elderly-man-runs-to-police-and-demands-protection-when-chased/

      3. Maybe instead of defunding them, we could make them pay the settlements of the ones that commit crimes out of the pension fund.

    2. ‘DailyMail.com has obtained exclusive photos showing the first responders coming to the aid of the 47-year-old at her five bed, six bath, 8,000 square foot, $2.5 million home in the upscale gated community that sits just 20 minutes north of Los Angeles’

      Houses are cheap in California. Surprised that people are moving out.

  26. As long as housing prices continue cratering, all is well.

    God Bless President Donald J. Trump and God Bless America!

    2. As I mentioned, the world and its economy is the billionaires’ playground. They are playing a game of monopoly with each other. Some will vote for Trump, but most of them are globalists who will vote for Biden.

    1. Portland is more of a mess than ever with all the appraisal fraud…. Anywhere down east for that matter.

  32. The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

    — H.L. Mencken

      2. Now this is a domestic terriost inva$ion you can shoot @ … Free! (-cost of ammo)

        ‘Super pigs’ can have piglets at only 3 months old. They’re terrorizing US, experts say

        TJ Macias / Tue, September 22, 2020,

        a wild pig population that’s growing at such a rapid pace, experts are referring to it as a “feral swine bomb” that can go off any minute.

        According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the invasive species of wild pigs has a population of at least 6 million and is growing quickly.

        The wild pig population has “expanded from 17 states to at least 39 over the last three decades” and causes an estimated $2.5 billion in damage a year, The Atlantic said.

        “I’ve heard it referred to as a feral swine bomb,” said Dale Nolte, manager of the National Feral Swine Damage Management Program at the USDA to The Atlantic. “They multiply so rapidly. To go from a thousand to two thousand, it’s not a big deal. But if you’ve got a million, it doesn’t take long to get to 4 [million], then 8 million.”

        The problem stems from the fact that most of the wild pigs are a mixture of domestic breeds and European wild boar.

        “The problem with the hybrids is you get all of the massive benefits of all of that genetics,” said Ryan Brook, a University of Saskatchewan biologist to the Atlantic. “It creates what we’d call super-pigs.”

        It also doesn’t help that the wild pigs can start reproducing at just 3 months old and can reproduce up to twice a year with litters consisting of around 10 piglets, the Outsider says.

        The population of feral pigs is higher in certain states. In Texas, there are more than 1.5 million, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. Florida also has a considerable amount, the University of Florida says

  34. The Tell
    Stock-market ‘anxiety will only intensify over the next 60-90 days’ warns expert who profited in 1987 and 2008 crises
    Published: Sept. 22, 2020 at 12:32 p.m. ET
    By Mark DeCambre
    Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

    Looking for calm in this suddenly turbulent market?

    Well, fat chance, warns, writes Alan B. Lancz, in his latest reflection on the state of the equity market.

    ‘Investor anxiety will only intensify over the next 60-90 days. It will likely build with uncertainty from U.S.-China relations, election chaos, delays in further relief/stimulus, and a second wave of COVID like parts of Europe are experiencing. ‘
    — Alan Lancz

    The contrarian money manager, who is a disciple of famed investor John Templeton, says that stocks aren’t likely to see any substantial gains in the wake of their run-up since late March.
    …

  35. ‘Good things come to those who wait. If you’ve been in the market for a new Aston Martin DBX, Vantage Coupe, or Vantage Roadster but have yet to pull the trigger, then be glad you’ve held off. The UK-based automaker has just announced significant price cuts for those three models and we’re not talking just a few bucks here and there, but rather several thousand dollars.’

    ‘Let’s start with the DBX SUV. Instead of its original $192,986 starting price, it’ll begin at $179,986 – a $13,000 reduction. Coincidence or not, this lowered price now makes the DBX more similarly priced to one of its main rivals, the Bentley Bentayga.’

    ‘Moving over to the sports cars, the 2021 Vantage Coupe will begin at $142,086 for both the seven-speed manual and eight-speed automatic models. That’s a full $7,000 and $14,000 price cut compared to last year’s manual and automatic models, respectively. As for the Vantage Roadster, it’ll now carry a $150,086 MSRP, which is a $14,000 price drop.’

    https://carbuzz.com/news/aston-martin-slashes-thousands-off-dbx-and-vantage-prices

    1. ‘That is the position of Kerry Tan, an associate professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland who specializes in the airline industry. “Given the strong decline in demand, I don’t expect airlines to have the market power to raise prices,” he said. “Instead, I anticipate airlines to offer steep discounts and sales to promote air travel.”

      ‘Tan noted that Southwest Airlines had recently offered one-way flights for as low as $39 out of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. That’s in line with a report published in July by flight alert subscription service Dollar Flight Club. The report says domestic flights within the U.S. are 41% lower on average — and will be throughout 2020 — as a result of the global pandemic. International flights from the United States are 35% cheaper than last year.’

      ‘This price drop, the report says, is greater than those that occurred immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks (18%) and during the Great Recession (21%).’

      https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/23/airfares-airlines-arent-raising-prices-amid-covid-19-pandemic.html

    2. Instead of its original $192,986 starting price, it’ll begin at $179,986 – a $13,000 reduction.

      Is that alot? 🙄

      1. ‘Let’s start with the DBX SUV. Instead of its original $192,986 starting price, it’ll begin at $179,986 – a $13,000 reduction.

        Percentagewise, people have been getting better deals on Fords and Chevrolets.

  37. Is it possible that some Amazon workers don’t approve of Candace Owens or her book…

    Blackout:

    How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation

    Candace Owens accuses Amazon of damaging her new book: ‘This is unacceptable’

    By Kathianne Boniello
    September 19, 2020

    Amazon workers really left their mark on conservative pundit Candace Owens‘ new book — including in Vaseline, she claims.

    The outspoken Owens took to Twitter to accuse the retail giant’s employees of damaging her tome, “Blackout.”

    “Dear @amazon. About 1,000 people have written to let me know that your employees appear to be stomping on and in this case, smearing Vaseline on my books before mailing them. I know it must have pained you to ship out all 90,000 copies you had in stock— but this is unacceptable,” she wrote Saturday afternoon.

    https://nypost.com/2020/09/19/candace-owens-accuses-amazon-of-damaging-new-book/

  38. Saw California unemployment scam on Tucker last night. Evidently some pretty massive fraud.

    September 22, 2020
    Beverly Hills mayor describes massive unemployment fraud

    Here is the rap song he had on last nights show that is written about getting rich from EDD

    EDD Employment Development Department State of California

    Nuke Bizzle Ft. Fat Wizza – EDD (Official Music Video)
    319,267 views•Premiered Sep 11, 2020

    https://youtu.be/QZKnNhCTmeA

    JuggGod
    1 week ago (edited)
    I done got rich off edd ❌🧢

    1. At second glance this video is disgusting and shocking.

      No face masks and a total disregard for social distancing! 🙂

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