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There Is Blood On The Streets

A report from Seattle PI in Washington. “Seattle condos are breaking records – well, it is not necessarily a good thing. Politics, protesting, poor city governance and the Coronavirus-epidemic have all contributed to a 130% increase in Seattle condos for sale in the Downtown core. We now how the most inventory of condos for sale since 2010. For those of you living in Seattle, 2009, 2010 and 2011 were tough times for condo sellers. There just wasn’t buyer demand because of the post recession hangover, an over-supply of new construction and an enormous number of short sales and defaults that slowed the progression of monthly sales. It is an incredible opportunity for buyers to take advantage of current conditions and to a negotiate a great price.”

From American University Radio. “Denis Tercero has lived in the Tivoli Gardens Apartments in Columbia Heights for 20 years. He hasn’t paid his rent since April, after he lost his job at a D.C. hotel. Tercero and about 30 others recently gathered outside the building owner’s home in Georgetown to ask that he cancel their rent. ‘The bigger the group, the stronger you are,’ Tercero said.”

“The day before, about 20 residents of the Woodner — one of D.C.’s largest apartment buildings, where up to 150 of about 2,000 tenants aren’t paying rent — marched to the building manager’s house. They demanded he cancel their rent and address issues with maintenance and operations. Another rent strike in the Southern Towers apartment complex in Alexandria has been growing since March, with hundreds of tenants withholding rent.”

“The ongoing protests against systemic racism have also helped frame some tenant protests around the ways racist policies and discrimination have contributed to housing segregation and gentrification. ‘The movements are all interconnected,’ says Citlalli Velasquez, an organizer with the Latino Economic Development Center. ‘We’re definitely trying to bridge the connection between ‘defunding the police’ and canceling rents.'”

“‘Certainly some buildings have really bad conditions,’ says Amanda Huron, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia who studies affordable housing and works as an organizer with the Tenants Union. ‘But in many cases, the tenants aren’t saying, ‘Conditions are bad, therefore we’re withholding rent, we’ll pay you when you get the conditions fixed.’ Tenants are saying, ‘We actually can’t pay rent at all. Ever.'”

From Curbed New York. “To the delight of the city’s rat population (and the dismay of the rest of us), garbage was not getting picked up as quickly as usual this summer. Facing a sudden budget shortfall resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council cut $106 million from the Department of Sanitation’s budget in June, leading to reduced trash collection.”

“The New York Times estimates that roughly 5 percent of New York City residents left town this spring and summer. This is evident in Manhattan’s housing market, where vacancies are rising, rents are falling, and sales prices are (finally) in decline. Seeing their work dry up, some moved to places where rent is cheaper to wait out the crisis.”

“The longer it takes for these people to return (or be replaced by other high-earning professionals), the more damage the city’s budget will endure — damage that could lead to drastic cuts to services like trash pickup and the subway system. Those cuts, in turn, could incentivize more New Yorkers to leave the city (either temporarily or permanently), creating yet more holes in the budget — a vicious cycle. In the worst-case scenario, this cycle spirals out of control, ushering in a new depression rivaling the mid-1970s crisis that almost led New York City to bankruptcy.”

From Bisnow on New York. “When Natalie Minuto started browsing through rental properties this summer, it was more out of idle interest than a serious search. But the hunt became real when she started seeing apartments offering monthly discounts worth hundreds of dollars and months of free rent. Now, Minuto is the proud renter of a one-bedroom apartment in the 70s on the Upper East Side for a price that works out to less than $2K a month. For the first time in her four years in New York, she doesn’t have a roommate. ‘I realized I’d better jump on this; these rents are amazing,’ she said. ‘And when ever has the power been in the hands of the renter, not the landlord?'”

“‘It’s the way the pendulum swings,’ said Joy Construction principal Eli Weiss, whose company owns multifamily properties in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. ‘Right now, if you’re a tenant, you’re the one who has all the power.'”

“In September alone, asking rents have dropped 12% during what is typically the most active time for new leases, according to Sid Gandotra, a Manhattan residential broker for The Corcoran Group. ‘It’s at a point where, as a broker, it is hard for me to even believe,’ he said. Last month, Manhattan had the largest market share of landlord concessions in nearly a decade of tracking, per Miller Samuel. ‘All of Manhattan is on fire in terms of concessions,’ Gandotra said.”

“‘We’ve never seen anything like this,’ said Safdie Realty Group CEO Joseph Safdie, whose brokerage represents apartment tenants and landlords throughout the city. Landlords are seeing enormous vacancies with not nearly enough inbound migration to fill the gaps, he said. The most dramatic loss of demand has been in the luxury sector, Safdie said: His brokerage saw an 18% to 23% year-over-year reduction in rent prices for high-end product.”

“‘In Manhattan, there is blood on the streets,’ said Nelson Management Group President Robert Nelson, who owns rental properties across the five boroughs. ‘It’s really, really bad in Manhattan.’ He has offered rent deferrals and offered to work with tenants who lost their jobs, but collecting rents has not been his biggest concern. ‘We’ve seen a number of people start to move out, and I think that is the thing that troubles me,’ he said. ‘We are talking to our tenants, they are all leaving for the same reason: Most of them are leaving because they lost their job, and they just don’t know when that job is coming back.'”

The Wall Street Journal. “Overall, about 10% of Manhattan office workers were back as of Sept. 18, according to CBRE Group Inc. That represents only a modest uptick from the 6% to 8% who were back in July. The tech-heavy San Francisco region is also struggling, with office occupancy in the 15% range. New Yorkers’ slow return to the workplace is the latest blow to the nation’s biggest city, which has also suffered from homeowners fleeing Manhattan for larger spaces, rises in murders and homelessness, and the shutting or partial closings of Broadway theaters, museums and other popular attractions.”

“The dearth of employees at their desks could also have long-term consequences for the city’s economy and tax base. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which relies heavily on commuter revenue, faces a $12 billion shortfall by the end of 2021 and is considering crippling service cuts. Manhattan’s low office turnout also has contributed to a $9 billion drop in sales tax and other revenue the city government is projecting for its fiscal year that started July 1.”

“About two million people worked daily in Manhattan’s central office districts before the pandemic, mostly white-collar workers but also employees of bars, restaurants, stores and other businesses. A number of once-thriving outlets that depend on office workers for business have already called it quits. That has helped push the city’s unemployment rate during the summer to 20%, the highest rate in more than 40 years.”

“Café Metro, a quick-service restaurant down the block from the MetLife building in Midtown, is closing early next month. On Thursday at the start of lunchtime, the previously bustling restaurant was nearly empty with just one dining customer and another placing an order.”

“‘Ninety percent of our revenue depends on office workers and another 10% depends on tourists,’ said Edison Castillo, the eatery’s manager. ‘We have lost both ways. I used to have 55 employees between both morning and night shifts. Right now we are down to six.'”

From CBS San Francisco in California. “The steady drop in San Francisco monthly rents triggered by the economic chaos triggered by COVID pandemic in mid-March continued in the month of September, according to apartmentlist.com. The listing service said rents in San Francisco decreased by 5.2% month-over-month in September and are down by 17.8% since the start of the pandemic in March — the fastest decline among the nation’s 100 largest cities.”

“Moving vans have become a common sight on San Francisco streets. Among those who has left the city is William Hauser, who originally came to San Francisco to pursue his digital dreams. Hauser talked with KPIX 5 as he loaded a moving van ready to begin his exodus to his childhood hometown in Ohio. ‘Honestly, I started being a software engineer, I got into computers, because it’s convenient to be able to work remotely,’ he said. ‘Now that everyone has been working remote, and policies aren’t cemented at least until next year, there’s no reason to stay here when I could go back to family and work remotely there.'”

From KCRW in California. “Who’s leaving LA because they can live more affordably elsewhere while doing the same job? KCRW speaks with Ben Bergman, senior reporter for dot.LA. Why are some Angelenos leaving LA right now? Is it too expensive? Are there too many fires? Is it climate change? Ben Bergman: It’s really all of the above. But it’s mostly that it’s too expensive. I talked to a lot of people who are fleeing LA because of the housing prices. More people are leaving LA. Over 10,000 people left in July alone. I would also say that there has been this net outflow of residents from LA for quite some time, but that’s been offset to a certain extent by immigration. And right now you’re seeing barely any immigration.”

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This Post Has 213 Comments

  1. ‘a 130% increase in Seattle condos for sale in the Downtown core. We now how the most inventory of condos for sale since 2010. For those of you living in Seattle, 2009, 2010 and 2011 were tough times for condo sellers. There just wasn’t buyer demand because of the post recession hangover, an over-supply of new construction and an enormous number of short sales and defaults’

    It’s a good thing you REIC clowns have been stampeding weak minded idiots into this buzz saw. And these inventory numbers are phony as hell cuz they don’t include thousands of new, unsold airboxes developers are sitting on.

    1. This is one of the most depressing HBB threads I’ve ever read.

      On the bright side, you’ve saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars by never buying, and more importantly, preserved my mobility, which is priceless.

      1. There isn’t trash piling up in Arizona. We’ve got a few commies here but nobody pays any attention to them. I’m all for federalism. If people want to live in the peoples republic of Massachusetts, fine.

        I do like to see Seattle PI choke on their shortage crap. And the little foot stamping from the NYC REIC above is hilarious. But you can write off DC and VA. Eat yer commie crowz taxpayer.

        1. “There isn’t trash piling up in Arizona.”

          Not yet but this thing is just getting started. Go to the link below and read what the world’s Movers & Shakers are up to.

          Here is a snip:

          “To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a “Great Reset” of capitalism.”

          “To achieve a better outcome” is not the same thing as saying “To achieve better opportunities”, in fact I think the case can be made that these two statements are not comparable with each other; One has to choose better outcomes or better opportunities, one or the other.

          These guys who run the world want to inflict a Great Reset on the rest of us and, right in front of our eyes, this is exactly what they are doing.

          Now is the time for a ‘great reset’ of capitalism | World Economic Forum
          https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/

          1. A while back I started to watch their video. They should get a different director, cuz it came off as creepy. I stopped watching after a few minutes.

            They can wash my cars if they need a real job.

          2. “They can wash my cars if they need a real job.”

            You are not paying attention. One of the goals these guys have is for you to not own any cars.

          4. I’m not worried about it. These Davos guys are history.

            My gawd I hope you’re right. What makes you so sure?

          6. The globe is “progressing” more and more every year towards more socialism/communism…not the other way around. The trend is your friend…or in this case, maybe not.

    2. I think i have mentioned this before – the annual nut (not including interest/principal) is about $16-20K for a large 2 br in a nice downtown building in Seattle. This is the HOA (24 hr front desk/concierge) and property taxes.

      We got lucky and closed on our unit in Belltown in Feb. There were some units that sold after – but now more folks are attempting to sell – especially noticeable with 1 brs.

      Renting costs (besides the rent) is utilities and renters insurance. It is a good feeling

          1. My first house was a 1 bedroom built sometime before WWII. It was 600 square feet. Yes, they used to build them that small. It had an unfinished basement with washer and dryer, and plenty of room for storage. It had a detached garage. I loved that house. It was perfect. I hate large houses.

  2. ‘Over 10,000 people left in July alone’

    You mean the prospect of being dragged out of yer car by mobs of career criminals has a downside?

    1. “blood on the streets”

      Politico, published today:

      “Of Democrats who identify as “very liberal,” 26 percent said there would be “a great deal” of justification for violence if their candidate loses the presidency compared to 7 percent of those identifying as simply “liberal.” Of Republicans who identify as “very conservative,” 16 percent said they believe there would be “a great deal” of justification for violence if the GOP candidate loses compared to 7 percent of those identifying as simply “conservative.” This means the ideological extremes of each party are two to four times more apt to see violence as justified than their party’s mainstream members.

      How seriously should we take these expressions of violence? Both history and social psychology warn us to take them very seriously. In Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, a rising tide of armed street mobilization and of violent clashes between rival partisans ravaged fragile democratic cultures, bullied and marginalized moderate forces, and gave rising autocrats an excuse to seize emergency powers.”

      https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/01/political-violence-424157

      That last line is the most troubling. Endless lockdowns, a decade long economic depression, those are only for the little people. The globalist overlords who have allegiance to no nation, only to their own enrichment, don’t care if millions will starve and die.

      Published yesterday, archive dot is link to the Washington Post — The covid-19 recession is the most unequal in modern U.S. history:

      http://archive.is/RuDV6

      1. a rising tide of armed street mobilization and of violent clashes between rival partisans ravaged fragile democratic cultures, bullied and marginalized moderate forces, and gave rising autocrats an excuse to seize emergency powers

        The irony is that those claiming to be antifascists are creating a scenario where the general populace will welcome a real fascist, just to stop the burning, looting a murdering. Bonus points if everyone gets a decent job under the new regime.

        1. The irony is that those claiming to be antifascists are creating a scenario where the general populace will welcome a real fascist, just to stop the burning, looting a murdering’

          people will give up freedom for security

      2. We are not going to have endless lockdowns. We are very likely to have a 15-minute test (IIUC already available on college campuses), a treatment (ivermectin), and a vaccine by Christmas. The government — from either side — are not going to be able to control the populace once that all kicks in.

          1. How so? The testing itself won’t collapse the case count. However, testing will collapse the case positivity rate as almost everyone runs to get tested. Ideally the positives would get a little blister pack of Doxycycline and Ivermectin. (There’s no harm in taking these even if you don’t have the disease.)

            You’re right, it’s not what the controlling factions want. They want us locked down to pass a UBI. But even the libs are tired of staying home. They miss their cruises.

          2. How so?

            There is a trade off between speed and sensitivity. The PCR test takes a long time because it needs to amplify the sample 1 trillion times in order to pick up trace RNA artifacts. The quick test will only pick up those with a raging infection. Fewer positives and hopefully much fewer false positives. Those with only a mild case, or a previous, but recovered from, infection will slip through the cracks.

            That’s my impression anyway. We’ll see.

          3. OK, at first I get confused as to which test. I was under the impression that some 15-minute tests were more sensitive than others. But I’m still thinking that more testing –> more people getting tests.

          4. The PCR test takes a long time because it needs to amplify the sample 1 trillion times in order to pick up trace RNA artifacts.

            PCR tests take more time because most samples have to be transported and processed at facilities with thermal cycling instruments. Antigen/antibody tests can be done at point of care.

    2. I would also say that there has been this net outflow of residents from LA for quite some time, but that’s been offset to a certain extent by immigration. And right now you’re seeing barely any immigration.

      Even illegals know that it’s best to steer clear of the golden state.

    3. You mean the prospect of being dragged out of yer car by mobs of career criminals has a downside?

      Funny how the MSM never mentions this. No, people are leaving because of fires and climate change. And yeah, it might be a little pricey. But fear of mob violence? Oh, nosiree, not that.

      2. They’re leaving because they never really wanted to be in LA of SF in the first place. They only went to the city because that’s where the cubicle farm was. Replace the cubicle farm with Microsoft TEAMS, and the country is their oyster.

          1. “…At least places that have fiber optic or 4G service….

            Just exited a company Teams meeting a few minutes ago myself.

            At is core, Microsoft Teams, casts a surprisingly small footprint and is very efficient.

            I happen to be connected at the moment to the AT&T cell network here in Irvine. Performance is more than acceptable even during video feeds.

            IMO, the age of the office cubicle cluster is long gone. My company leases one of those giant tilt-up construction buildings, probably 100,000 ft/sq with a gym, deli, giant front lobby, presentation theater, etc. etc. I have no idea want the $sq/ft rent is, but it’s got to be a small fortune.

            In the same industrial neighborhood, many other large buildings were ‘for lease’ way, way before Covid.

            Our next door neighbor, (a very well known automaker) with a building at least 5x the sq footage as ours, left well over a year ago. The buzz from some employees I knew, was that management considered California to be one giant stinking cesspool, because of high real estate prices for both employer and employee, insane SoCal Orange County traffic, and over the top regulation. So, the company said F*ck it and moved to Tennessee.

            Working from home for us [software development] has been a huge success. With a few exceptions no one wants to go back.

            Frankly, if I was part of the Commerical REIConplex, I would run, not walk, to the nearest non REIConplex job offer. Making it in the CRE world is is going to be downright brutal.

          2. In the same industrial neighborhood, many other large buildings were ‘for lease’ way, way before Covid.

            Half of our Santa Clara Campus is available, but I expect no takers. The campus is comprised of older, historic buildings from when it was once an insane asylum, plus a slew of new buildings that Sun built. Perhaps it will someday revert to its old use as a looney bin.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnews_Developmental_Center

          3. And reliable power which CA is legislating to undermine.

            Zero fossil fuel power plants. CA will depend on buying electricity from other states until magic power is invented.

  3. ‘To the delight of the city’s rat population (and the dismay of the rest of us), garbage was not getting picked up as quickly as usual this summer. Facing a sudden budget shortfall resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council cut $106 million from the Department of Sanitation’s budget in June’

    I said months ago this could turn into a smoldering black hole. You shot yerself in the fook mayor. Good luck turning this basket-case around.

    1. Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council cut $106 million from the Department of Sanitation’s budget in June

      Gotta love how these Marxists will always first cut the budgets of essential services, while leaving useless things like “diversity” bureaucracies intact.

  4. ‘rents in San Francisco decreased by 5.2% month-over-month in September and are down by 17.8% since the start of the pandemic in March’

    How do those 5% cap rates look now? Anyone with common sense can see there are going to be thousands of bay aryan foreclosures.

    1. How do those 5% cap rates look now? Anyone with common sense can see there are going to be thousands of bay aryan foreclosures.

      I’m sure the FED is coming up with some scam, I mean scheme, to handle this.

  5. ‘We’re definitely trying to bridge the connection between ‘defunding the police’ and canceling rents’

    Ahem…

    ‘But in many cases, the tenants aren’t saying, ‘Conditions are bad, therefore we’re withholding rent, we’ll pay you when you get the conditions fixed.’ Tenants are saying, ‘We actually can’t pay rent at all. Ever’

    These people are just communists. Stupid communists. Who’s going to pay taxes, maintenance, etc? La-de-da, we peaceful demonstrators, we stand in the street and get hit by cars!

    DC is just another socialist sh$t-hole. Watch yer tax revenue sink like a turd in a well.

  6. Here is an indication of what happened here in NYC. From 2000 to 2019, the number of employed city residents soared by 850,000. The number of households with work earnings — fell slightly, remaining at about 2.5 million. The number of households with Social Security income soared.

    So while housing was taken up by retiring Boomers, the young workers surging into the city were forced to double and triple up, because rents soared and they couldn’t afford their own place. No wonder so many left when they became able to work remotely. Comparing the 2000 Census with the 2019 American Community Survey, the median gross rent increased 42.0% — AFTER adjustment for inflation. The percent of city renters paying at least 30.0% of their income in rent increased to more than 50.0%.

    Bad government, liberals, Black Lives matter, blah blah blah. The problem is the cost was too high to start with. After the pandemic ends, if NYC becomes more affordable, people will occupy it. If nothing else, the latent demand from all those people forced to have roommates or live with their parents might be able to show up. But you have to fear extend and pretend, units held vacant by zombie landlords who continue to ask unaffordable rents.

  7. BTW, in response to the objection to de-funding the police from Trump, echoed by some here, I showed just how ridiculously overstaffed the NYPD, and with a 20 and out pension, there are far more retired cops than those working.

    With regard to garbage guess what? The same garbage. We have vastly more sanitation workers per 100,000 residents than average too, even taking into account employment at the private carters in other places. Our sanitation workers collect far less trash per worker than those anywhere else.

    1. ‘ridiculously overstaffed’

      And in Seattle some cops make 300k+/year. Different issues. You can thank the unions, BTW. “Cops are overpaid, defund them!” – makes no sense. It’s the same with police brutality. It was under Obammie that Flagstaff police got a free tank from the feds. They’ll never need that tank in Flagstaff. When I moved to Sedona there are very few police. Now the town is crawling with them (handing out tickets) and they dress like swat teams.

      We can see that there are all sorts of socialist “movements” coming out of the wood work. And they are reaching. You know what another common theme is? Get rid of the courts. Sure, no rent, no laws, free money. Open borders. Globalists are socialists, always have been.

    2. Say what you want about overstaffing in NYC but I always felt safe when traveling there, which was exactly the opposite of what I felt in San Francisco, where I was followed by a homeless zombie, approached by addicts asking for money and where the only time I saw a cop he was driving by in a cruiser. I hope NYC eventually gets it together but I have no interest in returning to SF and I felt this way long before Covid.

  10. ‘Mortgage-backed securities are on track for their worst September performance in five years despite massive support from the Federal Reserve. As of Tuesday’s close, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. MBS index month-to-date excess return versus Treasuries stands at -0.18%. That would be the worst performance for mortgage-backed securities for the month since the -0.20% seen in September 2015 if the level holds through Wednesday. The average monthly excess return during September over the last decade has been 0.09%.’

    ‘The benchmark is also likely to record its worst performance for the first nine months of a year since 2015 with a loss of -0.56%. Unlike that year — when the Fed wasn’t growing mortgages on its balance sheet — the current underperformance is taking place despite the central bank adding around $40 billion of MBS each month. This highlights the headwinds facing the sector as elevated supply, fast prepayment speeds and the risk of forbearance have proved a potent mix.’

    ‘Consensus on the Street is that supply will remain elevated at least through year-end, with Nomura Holdings Inc. increasing its forecast to $430 billion net for 2020, which would be the highest total since 2009. Record low mortgage rates have spurred home purchasing, cash-out refinancings and rapid home price appreciation, all of which can push net supply higher. Last month, for example, saw record agency MBS net supply of $74 billion, according to Bank of America Corp., a total well above the take down of the central bank.’

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mortgages-set-worst-september-performance-174358383.html

  12. They demanded he cancel their rent and address issues with maintenance and operations.

    So … they want free rent AND the landlord fixes the problems with leaky roofs, heat, hot water, the stove, the elevator, etc. And bring back the free $1000 a week!

    Freeloader nation.

      1. I wonder what it will take for the deadbeats to get fed up and move out? Judging from that article about the abandoned motel in Orlando, sounds like they can put up with a lot, though I suppose that eventually the units will become uninhabitable

    2. So … they want free rent AND the landlord fixes the problems with leaky roofs, heat, hot water, the stove, the elevator, etc. And bring back the free $1000 a week!

      Exactly. It’s absolutely disgusting what Democrats have created. And they’re desperately trying to bring back that fawking $600 per week scam. I honestly have a hard time believing we’ve sunk so low as we have, so quickly.

      1. That’s another reason to root against the Dems. They would suppress the FDA’s approval of treatment drugs just to keep us shut down.

        1. They would suppress the FDA’s approval of treatment drugs just to keep us shut down. because they can.

      2. “I honestly have a hard time believing we’ve sunk so low as we have, so quickly.”

        Stop those welfare checks, and you’ll have World War Z.

  13. I do wonder if no heat in a sub 32 winter (and maybe burst water pipes) would be enough to get tenants to move out.

      1. That assumes they will pay the electric bill. Recall that article posted here about the people living in an abandoned motel in Orlando. They couldn’t be arsed to pay the electric bill.

  14. From KCRW in California. “Who’s leaving LA because they can live more affordably elsewhere while doing the same job? KCRW speaks with Ben Bergman, senior reporter for dot.LA. Why are some Angelenos leaving LA right now? Is it too expensive? Are there too many fires? Is it climate change? Ben Bergman: It’s really all of the above. But it’s mostly that it’s too expensive. I talked to a lot of people who are fleeing LA because of the housing prices.”

    – There are a few major reasons peeps are moving out of major U.S. metros, esp. the blue ones, but the biggie is housing cost/price. It’s too darn expensive. Why? BC of Fed and Government intervention in the markets mostly. Developers got the wrong signals that CRE/Multifamily was going to the moon due to ultra-low interest rates and other incentives. Cities were supposed to be the hot new place to live for the younger generations forever. This was a ‘can’t lose’ proposition for the developers. They ignored unprofitable cap. rates, say 5% or less. Basic RE investing principles were thrown out the window thanks to Fed/Gov’t. artificial stimulus policies following the GFC. The result was “malinvestment” in classic Austrian economics fashion. Bubbles were blown, but bubbles always pop. Peeps love the up-cycle, but the down cycle, not so much. You reap what you sow. There’s going to be some pain on the downside. It can’t be avoided.

    – General comment: Not only do we have to contend with the CCP virus pandemic, but we also have to deal with a major outbreak of Socialism in the U.S.
    1) After affordability, and the virus, this is the driver of urban population outflows due to all of the reasons related to Socialism/Communism and it’s impacts on living conditions.
    2) The Fed as gained incredible power and is micromanaging the economy. Congress is doing jack, except for self-enrichment at citizens expense. Think taxation w/o representation all over again. Of course this doesn’t work in the long run, since any centrally-planned, command-and-control economy is doomed to fail. The historical record supports this. And yet, here we are. What a mess!

    1. “of the reasons related to Socialism/Communism and it’s impacts on living conditions.”

      It’s rough out here in California. I absolutely HATE the mandatory morning calisthenics led by a guy in a chairman Mao suit. Not being allowed to own anything is pretty inconvenient as well, and being shipped off to the Bakersfield gulag is a threat constantly hanging over our heads.

      1. The new form of oppression is anarcho-tyranny. And Cal is great at it. You don’t need official brown shirts, just let the feral mobs know they can do their thing. Who needs gulags when the law abiding are fearful of leaving their homes?

        1. Victor Davis Hanson explains CA pretty well you can listen to his PODCASTS explaining the place . California Apocalypto was pretty good .

  15. ‘An exchange between Gov. Tom Wolf and a state House member from Bucks County on Tuesday went viral on social media, drawing the ire of Republican groups and even garnering national attention courtesy of Eric Trump.’

    ‘The state livestream includes audio of Rep. Wendy Ullman, D-143, of Plumstead, referring to keeping her face mask on while at the podium before and removing it to speak as “political theater” at a press conference in Doylestown Borough.’

    “Wendy, I’m going to, I’m going to take my mask off before I speak,” Wolf is heard saying to Ullman before her remarks. It was picked up by a microphone at the podium.’

    “I will as well. I’m waiting so we can do a little political theater,” Ullman responded, laughing with Wolf after she spoke and then returning to the microphone with her mask still on.’

    ‘Josh Hogan, one of the founders of the local group Reopen Bucks County PA, said the video only confirmed an underlying insincerity among officials like Ullman and Wolf about the pandemic response.’

    “At the end of the day it is what you hear … Wolf not only does it with his mask but he does it with the little hand sanitizer that they rub their hands up with at the beginning of every press conference,” Hogan said during a phone interview Wednesday.’

    “We know that it’s fake and it’s staged and now they’ve finally been given us that confirmation, so we’re actually pretty appreciative of that,” Hogan added.’

    https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/news/2020/09/30/face-mask-political-theater-comments-draw-online-backlash-ullman-wolf/3586692001/

    1. ‘A year earlier, in 1976, Biden introduced legislation to prevent the Justice Department from pursuing desegregation cases that could result in court-ordered busing, the New York Times reported. “I oppose busing, to the chagrin of some of my liberal colleagues,” he said at the time. He also supported several bills that year designed to stop federal judges from issuing busing orders, according to the Times.’

      ‘As a young senator, Biden emerged as the Democratic Party’s “leading anti-busing crusader,” the story says, “a position that put him in league with Southern segregationists, at odds with liberal Republicans and helped change the dynamic of the Senate, turning even some leaders in his own party against busing as a desegregation tool.”

      ‘The Facebook post says that in 1977, Biden said integrating black students would turn schools into ‘a jungle… a racial jungle.’”

      ‘That’s not quite right. In 1977, Biden, who opposed court-ordered busing to integrate public schools, said: “Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle with tensions built so high that it is going to explode at some point.”

      ‘He advocated for “orderly integration,” specifically integrating housing, and he supported many other aspects of desegregation and civil rights. But, as the New York Times reported, Biden also pushed an “anti-busing agenda into the early 1980s.”

      ‘We rate this Facebook post Half True.’

      https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/29/viral-image/biden-said-without-orderly-integration-his-childre/

      Half true?

      2. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was a democrat who opposed many policies that Black take for granted today. He even advised republican administrations regarding the moral hazards of welfare.

  16. “They demanded he cancel their rent and address issues with maintenance and operations.”

    …and give each of us a baby unicorn!

  17. Isn’t it usually the rats who first leave a sinking ship?

    “To the delight of the city’s rat population (and the dismay of the rest of us), garbage was not getting picked up as quickly as usual this summer.
    …
    The New York Times estimates that roughly 5 percent of New York City residents left town this spring and summer. This is evident in Manhattan’s housing market, where vacancies are rising, rents are falling, and sales prices are (finally) in decline.”

    1. They pick up trash different in New York than CA, in CA we have trash trucks with great pincer arms that pick up and do a 180 with the trash barrels to empty trash in the truck so one driver can get allot done. but I THINK in New york trash pick up is free. And I have been told they just leave plastic trash bags out and trash guy has got to do all the work manually ? hard for me to believe but IDK I’ve been told.

      1. Parking parking parking you would have to give up valuable street parking to use those bins, and that will end a politicians career pronto.

  18. A one-month decrease of 5.2% occurs at an annualized rate of 47.3%. San Francisco rent affordability is improving quickly!

    “The listing service said rents in San Francisco decreased by 5.2% month-over-month in September and are down by 17.8% since the start of the pandemic in March — the fastest decline among the nation’s 100 largest cities.”

  19. Real Journalists:

    “The Associated Press (AP) issues guidelines, closely adhered to by many journalists, dictating what words are politically correct at the time and what words to avoid. The AP issued new guidance on Wednesday telling journalists to avoid using the word “riot” when covering leftwing events and refrain from reporting on property destruction because, according to the AP, such reporting has been used in the past as a way to stigmatize protests against lynching and racial injustice. To the AP, it’s not the job of journalists to report the news. It’s the job of journalists to advance a left-wing narrative.

    The AP dictates that “unrest” should be used instead of the word “riot” because it’s less “emotional.” The AP then points out how great the words “protest” and “demonstration” are because both words can technically refer to violent and peaceful gatherings alike and help gloss over the violence.”

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/09/30/ap-issues-new-guidance-for-reporters-to-cover-up-leftist-violence-n2577255

      1. It’s a riot when valuable stuff gets broke or burnt.
        It’s a protest when people show up hollering, and won’t leave when told.

    2. “The AP dictates that “unrest” should be used instead of the word “riot” because it’s less “emotional.”

      Here are a few more

      Urban campfire should be used instead of the word Burning

      Shopping after hours should be used instead of the word Looting

      Exotic beverage should be used instead of Molotov cocktail

    3. The AP dictates that “unrest” should be used instead of the word “riot” because it’s less “emotional.”

      How Orwellian of them. Double plus ungood.

  20. California, a state with a huge budget hole that leaves it unable to pay its own state workforce, is nonetheless exploring payment of slavery reparations, even though it was never a slave state and many of its white residents had nothing whatsoever to do with the slavery era in the U.S.

    With such governmental insanity, it’s no surprise that people are moving in droves from the People’s Republic of California into other states.

    1. Gotta love CA — they tell you daily we are a “nation of immigrants”, yet they want to pretend everyone got here in 1619.

    2. and many of its white residents had nothing whatsoever to do with the slavery era in the U.S.

      Not to mention its huge Hispanic population (40% of the population). They will not be amused when asked to pay special reparations taxes.

      1. For that matter, shouldn’t Californians of Mexican ancestry stand ahead of descendants of slaves in the line for reparations? The Mexican-American War, which deprived many Mexican ranchers of their land, circa 1849, seems like a much stronger rationale for California reparations than does slavery.

        But perhaps all that matters to the decision is which Democratic politician’s hair burns brightest or which one screams the loudest.

      2. They will not be amused when asked to pay special reparations taxes. Nobody is ever “asked” to pay taxes.

    3. is nonetheless exploring payment of slavery reparations, even though it was never a slave state and many of its white residents had nothing whatsoever to do with the slavery era in the U.S.”

      Get all the Chinese in Irvine to pay it . 😉

    1. The Financial Times
      Asset allocation
      ‘Safety trades’ fail to offset stock market’s turbulent September
      Historic correlations broke down leaving traditional hedges useless as equities tumbled
      The price of gold, traditionally a safe haven asset, fell in September even as investors retreated from equities
      © REUTERS
      Michael Mackenzie and Eric Platt in New York 6 hours ago

      Assets including gold and US Treasuries failed to provide the hedge in September that they normally do in a stock market rout, compounding investors’ woes in the worst month for global equities since the coronavirus nadir in March.

      Global equities, as measured by the MSCI All-Country World index, fell 4 per cent last month as the pandemic flared again in Europe and nerves grew about a potentially destabilising presidential election in the US.

      Yet fund managers running diversified portfolios were left disappointed by a drab performance in defensive assets and in the traditional “safety trades” they use to try to limit such pain. US Treasuries, which have historically rallied during a flight to safety, provided close to zero return, and gold declined. The experience offers fund managers the first taste of the challenge of balancing out market risks in the low-rate post-Covid environment.

      Defensive strategies are working “about as well as fire insurance that covers just one bedroom in the house”, said John Normand, JPMorgan’s head of cross market strategy. “Among safe assets, few are moving in the expected direction.”

      An analysis by the bank suggested that traditional hedges failed almost across the board. Sovereign bonds, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc were among those that lagged behind the average returns they have managed in other bouts of equity market turmoil since mid-2009.

      One haven trade that did work, buying the US dollar and shorting a basket of emerging markets currencies, brought in 2 per cent in September, but even that lagged behind its average return of 3.5 per cent during previous bouts of risk aversion.
      …

      1. Professor this ones for you…. Jazz Great Dave Brubeck’s Wilton Home Is On The Market​ Brubeck purchased the property in Wilton in 1961. Its design was inspired by a trip to Japan.
        Brubeck and his wife, jazz lyricist Iola Whitlock, called Wilton their home the rest of their lives, and raised their six children here. The couple was married for 70 years. Dave died in 2012 and Iola in 2014,
        https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/home-decor/a28396899/dave-brubeck-midcentury-connecticut-house/
        https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/221-Millstone-Rd_Wilton_CT_06897_M48989-83138

        1. Very dated, but in a groovy kind of way. Love that lamp at the top of the stairs. My parents had one like it in their SoCal house in the 60’s

        2. If you can somehow get underneath that stone staircase it would make a nice tornado shelter. The island in the forest is lovely too.

        3. That’s so cool…thanks for posting. I love the design…it’s luxurious without seeming ostentatious.

          Not many musicians are successful enough to afford such a spread!

    2. September’s stock market rout

      DJIA 9/1/20 open – 28,430
      DJIA 9/30/20 close – 27,781

      difference – -649

      “Rout?” C’mon….

  24. – Funny/Not funny.

    https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1311719924977590278
    Tweet
    Sven Henrich @NorthmanTrader
    Fed interventions contain too much liquidity for stock markets to be considered representative of free market capitalism.

    TheJournal.ie @thejournal_ie
    · Sep 30
    Subway sandwiches contain ‘too much sugar’ to legally be considered bread , Supreme Court rules
    http://jrnl.ie/5218826t
    11:29 AM · Oct 1, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

    1. Of course redistributing up is not “socialism.”

      Providing those now over age 62 with far more in federal senior benefits than those generations had been willing to pay for, to the point where the related programs are not sustainable, is not “socialism.”

      Preventing people who until recently had been working their assess off, and their children, from becoming homeless or starving IS socialism, or so it would seem.

      1. far more in federal senior benefits than those generations had been willing to pay for

        A quick calculation indicates that with combined employee and employer contributions to SS over my working years I will get just about exactly back what I paid in (in today’s dollars). That is without benefiting from any interest over all those decades.

        What do you call it when a country continually spends more than it has, as if there is no limit?

        BTW Larry, you’ve willing allowed this to go on your entire life, as much as I have.

      2. FWIW, the SSDI arm of social security is loaded with hordes of morbidly bese, drug-addled, etc., who never contributed and are decades short of 62.

    2. “Subway sandwiches contain ‘too much sugar’ to legally be considered bread , Supreme Court rules”

      First Jared now this.

  25. Fifteen days. Flatten the curve. We’re all in this together:

    “How badly is COVID-19 hurting Americans on the cusp of retirement? Maybe worse than we thought.

    In an interview, economist Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at The New School in New York City and one of the nation’s leading experts on retirement, told me that half—that’s right, half—of Americans aged 55 and up will retire in poverty or near poverty.

    “Our data is showing that, because of the COVID recession, about 50% of workers over the age of 55 will be poor or near-poor adults when they reach 65,” she said.

    How poor is that? “A person who’s 65 will be near-poor or poor if they’re living on less than $20,000 a year,” she told me. “I think we could all agree that means chronic deprivation for the rest of your life.”

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/half-of-americans-over-55-may-retire-poor-2020-10-01

    1. because of the COVID recession

      I think that “because” is a stretch, but if you lost your job at 60 it could be a long lean slog into full SS age.

    3. I think the C U Next Tuesday interviewed in that article is the same one that has been arguing for government confiscation of 401ks and then annuitizing them in order to “share the wealth” where everyone in effect gets a sh!t sandwich. I bet her nose has its own zip code.

  26. What a sham the media is. Everything is “orange man bad” regarding the debate. They are harping on this “Trump interrupting” thing. The facts?

    Biden spoke for 43 minutes
    Trump spoke for 38 minutes

    Chris Wallace was trying to silence Trump. He would not let him speak about things that he (Wallace) did not want to hear.

    1. All I’m hearing/seeing today is “he refused to denounce white supremacists at the debate.” He did and has for the last 4 years.

    2. Wallace was attacking. He asked the same question about Global Warming over and over. Him laughing at his own joke about Trump at the end was priceless. I think everything the President said was true and consistent with what he’s always said, which is why he was elected.

      1. Him laughing at his own joke about Trump at the end was priceless.

        What did the pompous ass say?

        1. Best viewed. The debate must be online.

          I don’t think Joe had to answer the last question because of the mocking.

    3. The opinion writers in the Washington Post are still seething over it.
      The bottom of our public life… Cancel the rest of the debates for the good of the country… Keep this from ever happening again…

      Geeze, I’d hate to see these guys in a war.

      1. I’d hate to see these guys

        Anything to avoid Joe being asked again “What did Hunter do to deserve that $3.5Million from the Russian lady?”

  27. I’m looking forward to seeing the next release of the FED’s balance sheet. It has perfectly coincided with this latest massive rally in the stock market.

    1. I wonder if there is a similar exodus from cities in other countries. In some I think they would like to move but can’t like Australia which has gone full orwell

  29. Just WOW. I hope this guy sues the pants off of these people.

    American cyclist Quinn Simmons suspended for pro-Trump comments on Twitter

    Simmons, a 19-year-old American, was replying to Dutch cycling journalist Jose Been. Been initially tweeted statements that were critical of Trump.

    “My dear American friends, I hope this horrible presidency ends for you. And for us as (former?) allies too,” Been wrote, via the Associated Press.”If you follow me and support Trump, you can go. There is zero excuse to follow or vote for the vile, horrible man.”

    Simmons replied to Been with “Bye,” and a Black-skinned waving hand emoji.

    After another Twitter user replied to Been with “Apparently a Trumper,” Simmons replied again with “That’s right” and an American flag emoji.

    “While we support the right to free speech, we will hold people accountable for their words and actions. Regrettably, Simmons made statements online that we feel are divisive, incendiary, and detrimental to the team, professional cycling, its fans, and the positive future we hope to help create for the sport In response, he will not be racing for Trek-Segafredo until further notice.”

    https://www.yahoo.com/sports/american-cyclist-quinn-simmons-suspended-for-pro-trump-comments-on-twitter-181756445.html

    1. “However, the issue could be his use of a Black-skinned hand emoji. Since Simmons is white, using an emoji with a dark skin tone could be considered to be a form of Blackface.”

      The planet is loaded with the thin-skinned these days.

  30. More concerning is President Donald Trump’s hostility toward his home city, which he abandoned early in his presidential term for Florida. Trump, in his reelection campaign, has declared that he is the only man who can save the suburbs from the carnage in the “Democrat cities.” Carnage that is, to a large extent, nonexistent. His Department of Justice labeled New York City an “anarchist jurisdiction” this month. But walking the streets of Manhattan, where many New Yorkers are happily sipping $25 cocktails at outdoor streeteries, one might wonder where — exactly — the “anarchy” is.

    OK so no bailout then? So go f**k yourselves slipping on your $25 cocktails

  31. Hey rip, I hate large houses too!
    My first was abt 500sf 1 bedr built in 1926. It had a cellar, fenced yard and big garage. I wish I could have kept it.

    WHY oh why do all the new houses and condoze look so huge and cavernous, noisy, vaulted ceilings, like a steakhouse or brewery or big box store?

    Every freaking place looks like that. With a White Kitchen! Oh my! These FBs really have a fetish for white, don’t they?

  32. Trump plans to slash refugee admissions to U.S. to a record low of 15,000…oh dear. The globalists, their Democrat minions, and their MSM propagandists are foaming with rage at how this is going to slow their “fundamental transformation” of what used to be America.

    1. The globalists, their Democrat minions, and their MSM propagandists are foaming with rage at how this is going to slow their “fundamental transformation” of what used to be America. work of wrecking the world.

      1. You have to tear down to build something new, no matter how much we don’t want the new thing. The first step is to flatten everything.

      1. I think the idea is to make Trump look like a meanie for not letting the caravans enter the country. Of course, we know that didn’t work last time, but I’m sure it won’t cost Soros and friends a lot of money. Once they smash their way in to Mexico there will probably be a fleet of buses waiting to take them to Tijuana, Juarez, Matamoros or some other border town.

  36. Talk about the “monkeys running the asylum:”

    The Brooklyn Nets named Steve Nash their head coach in early September, but stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant see Nash in more of a collaborative role and not as the head of top-down leadership.

    “I don’t really see us having a head coach,” Irving said on Durant’s new podcast, “The Etcs.” “KD could be a head coach, I could be a head coach [some days].”

    Durant followed up by agreeing with Irving, calling it a “collaborative effort” and naming assistant and former interim head coach Jacque Vaughn as someone who could fill the role any given day.

    https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/kyrie-irving-kevin-durant-brooklyn-nets-coaching-collaborative/story?id=73373706

      1. I loved playing hockey in HS, and rifle team in college. I liked going to Stanley Cup matches with my dad in NYC and I liked going to HS competitions when my kids were in school. I can’t stand watching that pro crap on TV. Hell, I don’t have a TV. They can go suck an egg.

  38. what I heard in the debate was Biden wanting to give Brazil billions to stop cutting down trees. that wont work but whatever I’m sure they will take the money. And thousands of new green jobs like
    Solyndra, awesome.

    Missed the first part was in a meeting with the boys in Vietnam.

  40. Hilarious. White women are waking up to the fact that they’re being thrown under the bus now.

    Gloria Steinem and Julie Taymor explain why the ‘Karen’ meme is sexist

    “There’s always been about half of white women who are economically dependent … on their husbands and are voting their husbands’ interests, not their interests,” Steinem tells Yahoo Entertainment. “And, of course, they also have [their own] racial bias.”

    That said, both Steinem and The Glorias director, Julie Taymor, express concern that sexism — rather than social justice — is part of what is fueling the current Karen phenomenon. “It’s kind of annoying that white women get Karen’d,” Steinem says.

    2. “And, of course, they also have [their own] racial bias.”

      So, are white women supposed to vote in their own interest or not?

    3. “Hilarious. White women are waking up to the fact that they’re being thrown under the bus now.”

      As the Reverend Jesse Jackson would say, “hoes and bitches.”

        1. The Financial Times
          Trump latest: US stock futures slide after president tests positive for coronavirus
          Gary Jones, Alice Woodhouse, Harry Dempsey, Sarah Provan, Adam Samson
          58 minutes ago
          Be the first to know about every new Coronavirus story
          Total Covid-19 cases
          World
          Confirmed
          33,942,213
          Deaths
          1,006,303
          Updated at 10/1/2020, 12:49:29 PM BST
          58 minutes ago 22:20
          US stock futures fall after Trump tests positive for coronavirus
          Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong

          US stock futures fell in Asia trading on Friday after Donald Trump said that he and the first lady had both tested positive for coronavirus following an aide’s diagnosis.

          S&P 500 futures were down 1.6 per cent following the announcement. Stocks in Asia-Pacific also fell with the Topix down 1.1 per cent in Japan and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down 1.2 per cent in Australia.

          Mr Trump was tested for the virus after his close aide Hope Hicks had been diagnosed with the virus
          …

    2. “just crashed”

      S&P futures are down 1% now, hardly a crash.

      Worst case scenario: Mike Pence serves two full terms as president.

    3. The President is in a risky age group and is obese. I wonder, will the President take HCQ and zinc? Has he been taking Vitamin D? Maybe he’ll test out some Ivermectin?

      I’ll go out on a limb and say that the President’s doctors, likely with help from the Secret Service, have been developing and refining a treatment plan for months, should this happen.

        1. LIVE COVERAGE President Trump tweets he tested positive for coronavirus.

          Hydroxychloroquine didn’t prevent Covid-19 among health care workers in new study
          By Jacqueline Howard, CNN
          Updated 5:06 PM ET, Wed September 30, 2020
          White House asked for his advice on hydroxychloroquine

          (CNN) The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine — which President Trump said he took in the hope of warding off Covid-19 — was found not to prevent infections among volunteers in a study released on Wednesday.
          …

          1. Unstated so far is the possibility of giving DJT convalescent serum at the first development of symptoms. An extremely low risk treatment (in use for over a century now for other infectious diseases) and is already being used for hospitalized cases. That, a little extra oxygen, and corticosteroids was what did the trick for my 86 year old friend. He only spent 2 days in the hospital for his COVID-19 infection a few weeks back.

    4. Source: Another Marlins player tests positive for coronavirus, raising total to 19

      Jul 30, 2020
      ESPN

      The Miami Marlins on Thursday had another player test positive for the coronavirus, bringing the team’s total to 19, a source confirmed to ESPN.

      In all, the Marlins have had 17 players and two coaches test positive over the past week, sources confirmed to ESPN. All games for the team have been postponed through Sunday by Major League Baseball.

      https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29564493/source-another-marlins-player-tests-positive-coronavirus-raising-total-19

      (I don’t follow MLB but there are No Big Splash Headlines about any serious illness from any of these players or coaches and it is very hard to find articles about their return)

      Most Miami Marlins who had coronavirus are cleared to return to field

      Aug 15, 2020
      Associated Press

      https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29668811/most-miami-marlins-had-coronavirus-cleared-return-field

      Miami Marlins make playoffs

      Sep 25, 2020
      ESPN News Services

      NEW YORK — Forced from the field by COVID-19, the Miami Marlins returned with enough force to reach the playoffs for the first time since their 2003 championship.

      https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29973047/miami-marlins-makes-playoffs-years-105-loss-season

      Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be.

      By Apoorva Mandavilli
      Published Aug. 29, 2020
      Updated Sept. 17, 2020

      Some of the nation’s leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant amounts of the virus.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html

  42. Are recent crazily high rates of home price appreciation against the backdrop of a global economic depression sustainable?

    1. The Tell
      Pace of home-price growth is ‘unsustainable’ in many global cities, warns UBS
      Published: Oct. 1, 2020 at
      7:26 p.m. ET
      By Joy Wiltermuth
      UBS: Now is ‘not the worst time’ for owners of multiple properties to consider profit-taking
      The view from a Brooklyn neighborhood on Tuesday. The UBS report gave a mixed picture for New York City real estate. Getty Images

      The coronavirus pandemic may have triggered the worst global downturn in more than 60 years, but home prices in the world’s biggest cities still have shot higher into the stratosphere.

      Instead of a plunge, it’s been four quarters in a row of home-price growth for major cities, as governmental fiscal support and central banks’ monetary policies have kept the party going, according to a new UBS Global Wealth Management report.

      As a result, it still would take 20 years for a highly skilled service worker to be able to buy a 650-square-foot apartment near Hong Kong’s city center, according to its findings.

      In Paris, it would take about 17 years of work to buy a similarly sized property, while in New York City it runs closer to 11 years.

      As a reference point, 650 square feet would be about double the size of a school bus converted into a tiny abode.
      …

      1. Eventually hair-of-the-dog hangover cures turn into nonstop drinking binges.

        Next stop: Skid Row

  43. Bonds
    Treasury yields fall as White House confirms President Trump has tested positive for coronavirus
    Published Fri, Oct 2 2020
    1:44 AM EDT
    Silvia Amaro
    Key Points
    – The White House has confirmed that President Trump is in quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus.
    – The First Lady, Melania Trump, has also tested positive for Covid-19.

    U.S. government debt prices rose on Friday morning as investors searched for safer assets after President Trump tested positive for coronavirus.

    At around 1.15 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped above 2% to trade at 0.6627%. At the same time, the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell above 1% to trade at 1.4389%. Yields move inversely to prices.
    …

  45. Not sure I believe trump has covid. Awfully convenient excuse for no more debates and shutting him up until the election. And he can emerge saying I’m fine, the virus is just a bad cold, no biggie blah blah blah

    2. That would imply that he still has some brain cells left in him and he can follow thru a plan.

    3. Interesting theory. After all, he has been taking hydroxychloroquine as a precaution, which Oxide and many other regulars assure us is an effective remedy.

      He could emerge in a week or two as a resurrected candidate who knows first hand that COVID-19 isn’t nearly as bad as advertised. He could get a great bounce in the polls out of this. Without independent confirmation, nobody outside of his inner circle would ever know the difference.

      1. Trump has not been taking HCQ lately. He took it for two weeks last summer and then stopped. I wonder if they’ll put him on it again, for real this time.

  46. The President can get the victim vote now. Actually a number of World leaders got C19. The timing on this is unfortunate and no doubt will be used to the max by his opposition.

    1. Which is probably why the caravans are restarting. I feel a bit sorry for those who are joining them, as they’re just leftist pawns who won’t be let in.

      1. “…the caravans…”

        What kind of braindead idiot comes up with a plan of “hey, we’re going to show up in large numbers and try to enter a country illegally!”?

  48. Comrade Newsom, who is Comrade Pelosi’s nephew, is not one to let a crisis go to waste as he is forcing “equality” measures on companies that seek to reopen from his Big Brother lockdown regime. Watch and learn, America. California offers a template for what the collectivists want to impose on America writ large.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/10/gavin_newsom_beclowns_himself_finding_nonsensical_excuses_to_keep_california_locked_down.html

      2. That’s pretty unbelievable.

        They are destroying lives in order to try to get rid of “orange man bad.”

          1. I was including Newsome in Pelosi’s family. But admittedly I have no idea what I’m talking about, because I am neither a CA resident nor a political historian.

    5. Comrade Pelosi’s nephew

      Sort of.

      “One of the Pelosis’ sons, Paul, married Nancy D’Alesandro, who went into politics and has now reclaimed speakership of the House of Representatives. Another Pelosi son married William Newsom’s daughter, Barbara. Until they divorced, that made Nancy Pelosi something like an aunt by marriage to Gavin Newson (Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law was Gavin Newsom’s uncle).”

  50. So, just wondering, what if:
    a) Trump were to die before the election? Sure, Pence would be sworn in as President, but how would that affect the election? Would Trump remain on the ballots? Would the GOP have to hastily nominate Pence as the candidate and select a new VP candidate?
    b) Trump dies after winning the election, but before being sworn in. Does Pence become the prez?

  51. Exhibit A for the relative mental acuities of the candidates. I hear something slightly different than what’s given in the text of the tweet. 🔥 🤣

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