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The Return Of Investment Is Not Looking Good

A report from USA Today. “Talk of a housing bubble is now common among analysts. Agent Stacie Lee says whenever something goes on the market in Phoenix, the showings are usually back-to-back and closing comes within a matter of days. Lee added that she had 70 people show up for an open house over the summer and had 15 offers in the first couple of hours. The home sold for $375,000 and is now back on the market at $550,000. ‘There’s a lot of investors flipping homes here,’ she said.”

The New Haven Independent in Connecticut. “Landlord Galina Zalman said she made a total of $2,552 in 2020 — sending her to a food pantry as she struggles to keep three local rental properties afloat. ‘We only use food banks, because no money,’ she said.”

From Crosscut in Washington. “For every month since evictions were banned in Washington last March, tenants in the state accrued somewhere around $100 million in owed rent. By that estimate renters here could now be over $1 billion in debt, a sum that grows each week. Brogan Thomsen, a small landlord with just six units in Seattle, said he’s become frustrated with the state — not because he doesn’t sympathize with renters, but because he feels it’s become the burden of housing providers to solve the larger crisis.”

“‘Why is it the owners who seem to get the bulk of the burden of trying to solve this with my money, my time and my headache?’ he said.”

From Patch New York. “Tenants who moved to Park Slope last month likely paid hundreds of dollars less than they would have in January 2020. ‘Compared to this time last year, rental prices are down across-the-board with studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom prices being down by 16.02%, 15.31%, and 15.53%, respectively,’ the researchers wrote. ‘Overall, average rental pricing in Brooklyn is down 15.59% from this time last year.'”

“The biggest price drop was in Brooklyn’s most expensive neighborhood, Dumbo, where studios deceased by more than 13 percent.”

From Bisnow. “Before the coronavirus pandemic, new apartment projects had been trending toward smaller units. But now those neighborhood amenities have been closed or limited for nearly a full year, and between working from home and staying in at night, renters have spent much more time in their apartments than they did before the pandemic. ‘Micro-units was the buzzword. It’s never going to happen again,’ Morgan Properties principal Jason Morgan said.”

“Class-A Apartment absorption in D.C. last year was down 75% from 2019, and the city’s vacancy rate rose from 4.9% to 10.3% over the course of 2020, according to Delta Associates. Rents for Class-A apartments across the D.C. Metro area fell by 10.2% last year, the largest decline Delta Associates has recorded since it began tracking the market in the 1980s.”

“Projects that delivered during the pandemic didn’t have the luxury of changing their unit sizes. ‘Once you make your floor plan mix, it’s very difficult to make any changes. It’s extremely costly — virtually impossible,’ J.P. Morgan Asset Management Managing Director Allina Boohoff said. ‘There have been plenty of situations where you make the decision that at the point in time, [the market] is short on studios, but by the time you deliver, everybody else delivered studios, and you can’t lease them.'”

The Review Journal in Nevada. “A penthouse that takes up the entire 45th floor at The Martin is on the market for $18 million and would mark a record in Las Vegas if sold in that price range. The listing comes as sales in 2020 in the Las Vegas high-rise condominium market fell 17 percent from 2019 and prices dropped double-digit percentages as that segment compared with single-family homes took a hit from the pandemic, according to research firm Applied Analysis.”

“Listing agent Michael McGraw said the owner, who has homes in other countries, bought it as a gray shell, and it took two years to build the penthouse out. The owner bought it for $4.25 million in 2016 and spent about $12 million to $13 million to improve it.”

“In January, Real Estate Millions reported luxury condo sales of $1 million and higher were down 20.6 percent for 2020. A report by Applied Analysis that looks at the entire high-rise market at all price points reveals that there were 505 sales in the valley’s 21 condo towers in 2020. That is down from 607 sales in 2019 and down nearly 40 percent from 836 sales in 2018.”

“‘The high-rise condo market in 2020 has clearly been impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis and related response, including the shutdown of hotel-casino properties along with amenities housed within those buildings,’ Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon said. ‘With a number of these high-rise projects located or around the Las Vegas Strip corridor as well as downtown, the demand weakened as a result of the health crisis.'”

“MGM Signature and Turnberry Place took the biggest hits in condo sales in 2020 as 15 properties recorded declines. MGM Signature, which is a condo-hotel where owners can put their properties into the MGM Grand rental pool, had 47 sales in 2020, down more than one-third from 72 sales in 2019. The average sales price also took a big dip, nearly 19 percent, dropping from $329,095 in 2019 to $268,125 in 2020, Applied Analysis reported.”

“‘I would attribute MGM Signature to travel numbers,’ said Frank Napoli, a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. ‘The return of investment on those is not looking as good because travel is down as are the room rates. In addition, one thing I attribute to condo-hotel values is the lack of financing available for products like that. They are mostly limited to cash buyers, which reduces the amount of available buyers for that. It’s always been a challenge for condo hotels.'”

“Palms Place condo-hotel was the most prominent property to show a gain in sales, but no property showed a steeper decline in prices. It had 50 sales in 2020, which is six more than 2019. The average price was $278,750 or $359 per square foot, down sharply from $618,251, or $646 per square foot. That price drop comes as the Palms Las Vegas casino has been closed since March, when the pandemic shut down the industry. There is no date for its reopening.”

From The Eastsider LA in California. “A recent report by the California Assn. of Realtors found that 21% of listings had a reduced price. The highest priced Eastside home sale within about the past week was a 3-bedroom Franklin Hills contemporary that sold for $2,200,000 ($198,000 under asking); the lowest was a 2-bedroom Historic-Filipinotown condo that went for $460,000 ($37,888 under asking).”

“Here are some examples, followed by a breakdown by neighborhood, of recent price cuts on homes, condos, apartments and other Eastside properties. Silver Lake condo: $10,000 slice on a 2-bedroom unit in gated complex with 2 bathrooms, fireplace, kitchen appliances and balcony. Now asking $759,000.”

“Echo Park one-bedroom: $30,000 reduction on a Lilac Terraces unit with floor to ceiling windows, updated bathroom, new flooring, and in-unit laundry. Located near shops, restaurants, hikes, trails and Dodger Stadium. Now asking $399,000.”

“Los Feliz Spanish: $200,000 chop on a 2-bedroom home in need of TLC. Includes fireplace in living room, long private driveway, and backyard. Now asking $990,000.”

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This Post Has 145 Comments

  1. Yep, there are still people taking an a$$ pounding on condo-tels.

    ‘the California Assn. of Realtors found that 21% of listings had a reduced price’

    Wa?

    1. condo-tels.
      All things being equal, in dollar terms, that is down a whopping 55%,
      And that is what they will admit to.

  2. ‘Why is it the owners who seem to get the bulk of the burden of trying to solve this with my money, my time and my headache?’

    Maybe it’s not yer money Brogan.

  3. This is a pearl clutching article.

    Washington Post — Trump’s lie that the election was stolen has cost $519 million (and counting) as taxpayers fund enhanced security, legal fees, property repairs and more (2/6/2021):

    “The costs have mounted daily as government agencies at all levels have been forced to devote public funds to respond to actions taken by Trump and his supporters, according to a Washington Post review of local, state and federal spending records, as well as interviews with government officials. The expenditures include legal fees prompted by dozens of fruitless lawsuits, enhanced security in response to death threats against poll workers, and costly repairs needed after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. That attack triggered the expensive massing of thousands of National Guard troops on the streets of Washington amid fears of additional extremist violence.

    Although more than $480 million of the total is attributable to the military’s estimated expenses for the troop deployment through mid-March, the financial impact of the president’s refusal to concede the election is probably much higher than what has been documented thus far, and the true costs may never be known.”

    https://archive.is/10O7I

    Joe Biden is not the legitimately elected president.

    The 2020 election was stolen.

  4. New York Times — Pandemic’s Toll on Housing: Falling Behind, Doubling Up (2/6/2021):

    “As the pandemic enters its second year, millions of renters are struggling with a loss of income and with the insecurity of not knowing how long they will have a home. Their savings depleted, they are running up credit card debt to make the rent, or accruing months of overdue payments. Families are moving in together, offsetting the cost of housing by finding others to share it.

    The nation has a plague of housing instability that was festering long before Covid-19, and the pandemic’s economic toll has only made it worse. Now the financial scars are deepening and the disruptions to family life growing more severe, leaving a legacy that will remain long after mass vaccinations.”

    https://archive.is/abTGm

    Globalists destroyed the lives of hundreds of millions of people because of a disease with a 99.98% survival rate.

    People want jobs and businesses want customers. It’s time to re-open the economy.

    1. Wasn’t that the original idea behind those 4 bedroom 6 bathroom McMansions..?
      Families are moving in together,

          1. I found the floor plan. The master bedroom is tiny for that price and total square footage. But if you want 7 ground level bedrooms on a 0.58 acre lot, I guess that’s what you get.

          4. The house on Old Winery doesn’t need much fixup. I think I’ve seen the house on Harrow. The rooms are very small — maybe the photography is bad. The Harrow house is one of the few that would benefit from the Minimalist Millenial Gray reno. Twisted Branch gives me bad vibes (tile countertops are never good). Old Coach… well, not my style, but you’re getting a lot of goodies for the money. Big piece of land, zoned for horses, orchard with separate well, granny flat, etc.

          5. Old Winery – House is fine. Lot, huge secondary structure and no pool are its drawbacks.

            Harrow Lane – Definitely bad photography. I’ve posted it before.

          6. Five (5) listings between $1-2M have entered the MLS as pending. Only the one on Treadwell said “Coming Soon” before it went pending.

            My husband also had four couples clamoring this morning for a $4,700/mo 3bd/2.5ba 2-story 2,200sf house in South Park with a carport and lengthy, steep stairs to the house.

            Inventory is very low.

      1. I frankly would hang tight if looking to buy in San Diego. A parabolic price blowout on shrinking inventory is normally what immediately precedes a bursting bubble, and this is what I see happening presently. (Saw the same thing circa 2006-2007.)

        Caveat emptor.

        1. Major changes are coming to PUSD special education next school year. Coupled with low inventory, our desire/need to purchase may be delayed.

  5. This is a medical tyranny control narrative.

    SF Gate — Face masks will be a part of life even after this pandemic ends (2/5/2021):

    “Nobody knows exactly how the world will change following this pandemic, but it’s naive to think the ongoing lockdown that’s approaching a year in length won’t have a long-term impact on social norms and customs.

    “I think face masks will continue to be used by the general public in times when they don’t feel well,” Dr. Panagis Galatsatos, a critical care doctor who works with COVID-19 patients, told CNBC. “And honestly, we’re realizing that no one feels slighted without a handshake.”

    Others take a harder line: “I do think we need a new culture of masks,” said former director of the CDC Dr. Tom Frieden, “at least any time not feeling well.”

    https://www.sfgate.com/shopping/article/face-masks-after-covid-15924912.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-Shopping-Main

    Globalists want a dehumanized, demoralized population of docile slaves.

    Globalists want to erase your humanity.

    1. I don’t use Twitter but this will be a fun account to watch over the next several months. It retweets COVID news from exactly a year ago. Note that only a week into February 2020, the hypocrisy and self-contradiction is already happening.

      https://mobile.twitter.com/YearCovid

      LOL@ your sh*tty Trust The Science™ narratives.

      1. 5 Feb 2020

        “How to prevent coronavirus: Wash your hands and ditch the mask”

        LA Times

        2 Feb 2020

        The mayor of Florence launches a new campaign: #abbracciauncinese, or “hug a Chinese”.

        ‘He shares a promotional video of himself embracing a Chinese friend and invites citizens of Florence to do the same.’

        31 Jan 2020

        ‘Italy declares a state of emergency and suspends flights with China. Xenophobic incidents are reported: a Rome cafe refuses Chinese customers and the Santa Cecilia conservatory asks Asian students to stay away until cleared by doctors’

        30 Jan 2020

        ‘Mongolia, Russia, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam have closed their borders with China. The WHO repeated its advice from the Ebola pandemic: countries should keep borders open, traffic flowing and people moving’

        27 Jan 2020

        ‘New Yorkers recently returned from Wuhan have begun voluntarily quarantining at home, but the NYC health commissioner says there’s no need to do so: “we encourage people to spend time with their families and go about their celebration”

      2. That was awesome. Thanks for posting. Always nice to see that not all Gen-Zers are mindless indoctrinated tools.

    3. n times when they don’t feel well,

      Don’t we already tell unwell people to stay home from work and school? Going out and wearing a mask would be more contagious than staying home.

    4. I predict that after COVID-19, mask wearing will narrowly stay in fashion in the Asian American community, and the rest of us will chuck them.

        1. Good point. After years of returning home from round trip air travel to spend the next couple of days fighting a respiratory infection, I am likely to do the same, especially now that it is normalized and fashion masks are available for purchase.

          My MD BIL has told me that he’s wearing a mask in flight from now on as well.

          But I probably won’t worry about it when hiking alone in the wilderness, where I believe they are currently required if inside a National Park.

  7. Foodbank landlord sezs:

    “But what has been a much bigger problem for her and her husband’s business, she said, is finding people able to pay rent at all.”

  8. Because the democrat marxists in charge made you scapegoats in their dictatorial assumption of power.

    You know, the very same ones you voted for or, at the very least, remained quiet.

    ““Why is it the owners who seem to get the bulk of the burden of trying to solve this with my money, my time and my headache?’ he said.”

  9. Math was never a strong point for living in NYC.

    “‘Overall, average rental pricing in Brooklyn is down 15.59% from this time last year.’”

    “The biggest price drop was in Brooklyn’s most expensive neighborhood, Dumbo, where studios deceased by more than 13 percent.”

    1. Maybe those biggest price drops were for the 1- and 2-bedroom units but the writer chose to highlight the drop for studios. The problem might be the writing more than the math.

    2. Ya gotta love a bunch of suckers who overpaid to enjoy the rights and privileges of home ownership in a place called Dumbo.

    1. Businesses at the Pruneyard Shopping Center have been decimated, and office vacancies are way up in the Pruneyard Tower I.

  11. I don’t even know how you could spend that much on an penthouse apartment to “improve it.” Literally, you don’t have to worry about the foundation, roof, exterior walls, windows, utilities, etc.

    What’s left? Kitchen, bathroom and furniture? $13 million in LV?

    “The owner bought it for $4.25 million in 2016 and spent about $12 million to $13 million to improve it.”

    1. well he did buy it as an empty shell…..it would be a great noodist retreat for 25 people…..that fishtank, the new gossipy water cooler.

      1. Yeah, the whole place is giving me an Epstein/Hefner vibe. Puffy heart on the wall. I’ve never seen a walk-in fish tank. Is there where couples go to show off, literally feeling like they’re in a fish tank? Not sure why you’d need two sets of washer/dryer (maybe I shouldn’t ask). That’s a double kitchen — I guess the real cooks hide in the back. That might be a million dollars of wine and another million of furniture, assuming they convey. But the total still doesn’t add up to $11M.

        1. So far as I am aware, Hef built and maintained his magazine empire with the legal cooperation of consenting adults.
          Whether his lifestyle choices agree with your personal standards of morality, it seems unfair to lump him with Epstein.

          1. “…it seems unfair to lump him with Epstein.”

            Indeed. I don’t recall reading anything to suggest that Hef was blackmailing his pajama party celebrity guests.

          2. unfair to lump him with Epstein

            https://casetext.com/case/shields-v-gross-2:

            Plaintiff [Brooke Shields] is now a well-known actress. For many years prior to these events she had been a child model and in 1975, when she was 10 years of age, she obtained several modeling jobs with defendant through her agent, the Ford Model Agency. One of the jobs, a series of photographs to be financed by Playboy Press, required plaintiff to pose nude in a bathtub. It was intended that these photos would be used in a publication entitled “Portfolio 8” (later renamed “Sugar and Spice”). Before the photographic sessions, plaintiff’s mother and legal guardian, Teri Shields, executed two consents in favor of defendant. After the pictures were taken, they were used not only in “Sugar and Spice” but also, to the knowledge of plaintiff and her mother, in other publications and in a display of larger-than-life photo enlargements in the windows of a store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

          4. Hef also had a vast personal film collection.

            To be honest, I don’t think Heffner or others like him were all that different from Epstein. They probably knew that if they were caught that the book would be thrown at them, whereas Epstein probably thought he was untouchable and could get away with his Lolita island. And he did, until he became a liability.

          5. or others like him were all that different from Epstein

            Hollywood is called Pedowood for a reason.

          6. “Hollywood is called Pedowood for a reason.”

            I’ve never heard that one, but I did read about Desi Arnaz years ago. Apparently anything that wandered onto the lot at Desilu Productions was fair game.

    2. What’s left?

      They didn’t even finish the ceiling in most of the place. Nothing says fancy like a concrete ceiling with exposed ducts and conduits.

  13. So to summarize America:

    10 million more unemployed than a year ago,

    Auto loans and leases still going up at record levels,

    Student debt still going up at record levels,

    Non-housing debt still going up, after a brief shallow dip, at record levels,

    Stock market at record levels,

    Housing market at record level.

    Pure madness and insanity, at record levels.

    1. You forgot to include:

      Stock market and other dollar-denominated risk assets climbing skyward in opposition to fundamentals, thanks to Fed interest rate suppression and massive ongoing injections of Unlimited Quantitative Easing life support.

  14. Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft Suspended From Twitter After Posting Shocking Voter Fraud Footage

    by National File
    February 7th 2021, 6:06 am

    The ban comes one day after The Gateway Pundit published never-before-seen footage that appeared to show election officials in Michigan receiving truckloads of ballots long past the deadline. The footage coincides perfectly with the late night surges that pushed Joe Biden over the top after most Americans went to bed on November 3, believing President Donald Trump had been reelected.

    On her Twitter account, Fairbanks notes that the timing is extremely conspicuous, and suggested it may relate to the late night “vote dumps” that made Joe Biden the election winner.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/gateway-pundit-jim-hoft-suspended-from-twitter-after-posting-shocking-voter-fraud-footage/

      1. Lindsey Graham says ‘we’ll want the FBI to come in’ if Democrats call a single witness in Trump’s second impeachment trial

        Feb. 2, 2021 at 3:18 p.m. ET
        By Weston Blasi

        ‘If you open that can of worms, we’ll want the FBI to come in and tell us about how people preplanned this attack and what happened with the security footprint at the Capitol.’— Sen. Lindsey Graham

        https://www.marketwatch.com/story/lindsey-graham-says-well-want-the-fbi-to-come-in-if-democrats-call-a-single-witness-to-trump-impeachment-trial-11612297118

        1. we’ll want the FBI to come in

          Perhaps someone can explain why he needs to wait for the Dems to make a move before giving this the light of day.

          2. I’m assuming there were dozens of backroom deals in the past couple of months. Lindsey wants to save his butt from… something.

          3. Pretty much the entirety of Congress is corrupt. As we saw with that scumbag McConnell, the RINOs never wanted Trump and they turned on him immediately after it was evident the Coup was a success. They’re in on all of this. I have been, for weeks, pondering how we somehow eradicate this illegitimate regime.

        2. Why don’t we just rename the FBI the NKVD? For all intents and purposes they’ve become the DNC’s secret police, and make no pretense of going after the really big criminals.

  16. INSURRECTION: BLM Mob Swarms D.C. Streets, Chants ‘If We Don’t Get It, Burn It Down’

    by National File
    February 7th 2021, 6:03 am

    A mob of Black Lives Matter activists took to the streets of Washington, D.C. Saturday night to yell at police and harass outdoor diners while chanting insurrectionist slogans such as “if we don’t get it, burn it down.” Like most similar incidents involving Black lives Matter, the corporate media took zero interest in covering the march and accompanying threats of violence.
    The gathering of Black Lives Matter and Antifa agitators was dubbed the “FTP March,” a reference to “F**k The police.”

    The mob tramped through multiple streets, shining flashlights in the windows of residents and local businesses.

    Unlike recent pro-Trump protests where multiple protesters were attacked and shot by law enforcement, D.C. police appeared to show little interest in controlling or halting the march.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/insurrection-blm-mob-swarms-d-c-streets-chants-if-we-dont-get-it-burn-it-down

      1. Let them rot.

        My boycott of Denver will continue as I spend money in (and contribute sales tax dollars to) Arapahoe, Jefferson, Douglas Counties. Other than the electrical supply shops I have no reason to spend money in Denver.

    3. The mob tramped through multiple streets, shining flashlights in the windows of residents and local businesses.

      Few things warm my heart like seeing urban libtards come face to face with what they voted for.

    1. “cantcensortruth”

      Real Journalists think they can.

      There are 75 million of us, we are the leaderless resistance.

          1. “Authorities have reviewed video and photographs that show Sicknick engaging with rioters amid the siege but have yet to identify a moment in which he suffered his fatal injuries, law enforcement officials familiar with the matter”

            Now wait a second I saw rioters throwing rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at police, oh wait, that was BLM and Antifa peaceful protestors for months on end in cities across the United States.

  18. Yellen is saying that the 1.9T stim package will get us back to full employment in just one year.

    We’re still gonna be in lockdowns at that time.

    2. “full employment”

      Translation: everyone who is not part of the 0.1% parasite class has a job driving Uber or working at the Amazon warehouse.

      Globalists gonna globe.

    3. Everything has been gamed-up too far. Our young, the new entrants into the economy can’t afford buy houses or cars at today’s prices. Besides, they’re saddled with college debt at levels that should be considered criminal.

      1. How can it be considered “criminal” when the person applied for the loan and accepted the money? Victim? The person who rejected this and became an automobile mechanic (and others like them) and began paying taxes is the victim here.

        1. Yup. Far too many aren’t asking: “A four year degree will cost me how much? And what kind of job will I get with a degree in Victim’s Studies?”

        2. The colleges are charging too much in tuition was what I intended to communicate. I’ve put one through the four-year pipe and have another halfway through. That should have been my retirement fun money.

  20. “Landlord Galina Zalman said she made a total of $2,552 in 2020 — sending her to a food pantry as she struggles to keep three local rental properties afloat. ‘We only use food banks, because no money,’ she said.”

    Sounds like a flawed investment strategy, Galina.

  21. “‘Why is it the owners who seem to get the bulk of the burden of trying to solve this with my money, my time and my headache?’ he said.”

    Simple. Because you live in a commie state and didn’t do enough to resist government overreach.

  22. The average price was $278,750 or $359 per square foot, down sharply from $618,251, or $646 per square foot.

    Say, have our central planners declared a moratorium on cratering collateral valuations on securitized CRE loans?

  23. These criminal Entities stole the election and the US Constitutional Republic of representative Government of the people of the USA.
    They have taken majority power of Fed Gov.,by fraud with the Puppets like Biden/ Harris in place to do their biding.
    They have control over the Media they own, and they are censoring any dispute to their false narratives.
    They go so far as to now have a false narrative that Trump Voters are extremist insurrectionist, while they set up a fake Impeachment trial against Trump.
    The Covid19 Medical scam was used as a weapon to make it easier to steal the election, and assert control over the populations by this obvious fraud. The Medical cartel have looted the coffers over this scam, plus will make a fortune over what will be mandatory repeated dangerous vaccines. The Medical Scam of Covid to assert control over populations and destroy freedoms , while these entities got the lion share of the Gov relief packages is evident.
    These Entities that have resorted to fraud to take over the Gov and put in their corrupted Puppets have put US Citizens at the mercy of this Fraudulent takeover .
    You hear absurd talk about masks for 5 years, or repeated vaccines This is a preview of how they plan to control populations in the future by Medical Fraud as a weapon of population control they can exercise at a drop of a hat.
    No matter how false and unjustified and destructive this Covid 19 Scam was, it will be a major weapon to control the populations going into the future
    At this point, it’s likely that the fake Media will tell you any false narrative in that they are censoring any dispute to their absurd narratives.
    Expect Climate Change misinformation, or any false flags BS they want to assert.
    They no doubt will try to prevent the Majority from taking back the Government and they are already at war with over half the US population in their Media demonizing of the real Citizens they criminally stole the election from.
    No illusion what the true colors of these criminals are and what they will resort to .

    2. they are censoring any dispute to their absurd narratives

      Yet every conservative friend that I talk to knows all that we discuss here, even the ones back in the hills in Appalachia.

        1. I’m amazed that there isn’t something illegal or discrimination about punishing or refusing to service business just because they were part of a political party that represented over half the Country.
          I have never seen anything like this. It’s really outrageous and reflects that these criminal Entities that stole the election are at War with Trump and over half the Country who are now falsely labeled
          extremist insurrectionist .

          2. This is the important part: preventing them from withdrawing any funds.

            I read somewhere that Robinhood did the same. Not only did they restrict trades on GME and AG, they locked traders’ accounts so they couldn’t withdraw and migrate to a different broker. Not sure if that really happened, or if it’s legal, but I’m sure it was in the “terms of service” somewhere. 🙄

    1. So on top of overpaying for the shack you also have to pay a sales tax. I’m surprised this isn’t being done in the US.

      1. Sellers have to pay a real estate transfer tax. In some states, buyers have to pay a mortgage transfer tax when they take out a mortgage.

        2. have to pay a mortgage transfer tax

          Never heard of such a thing, and it sounds absurd. A title transfer tax is a thing. In PA it was 1%!

  26. Will the housing market come back after the souper bowl?

    Can’t wait to hear all about it in the Rocket Mortgage halftime show!

    1. Rocket Mortgage

      Yeah, mixed-race “house hunting” vignettes. FWIW, the super bowl was the only NFL game I watched this 2020 season. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing Patrick Mahomes getting “schooled” by Tom Brady. 🙂

      1. So the Devil Rays won.

        I didn’t see the game but I did see this…

        5-Year-Old Girl in Critical Condition After Car Crash Involving Kansas City Chiefs Assistant Coach

        By Eric Todisco
        February 07, 2021

        The multi-vehicle car crash involving Britt Reid, the son of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and the team’s outside linebackers coach, on Thursday night has left a 5-year-old girl hospitalized in critical condition.

        Police say Reid, 35, admitted to drinking prior to the crash, which took place near the team’s home stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, just days before Super Bowl LV. An investigation is underway and Reid has not yet been charged.

        https://people.com/crime/5-year-old-girl-critical-condition-car-crash-kansas-city-chiefs-britt-reid/

      2. FWIW, the super bowl was the only NFL game I watched this 2020 season

        It was the only game I watched as well. Loved that all the SJWs hate Brady and his team, and he, did a great job. Noticed that he was about the only one walking into the game NOT wearing a mask.

    2. I guess with the NFC champions winning the souper bowl, the souper bowl indicator is bullish.

      Buy stocks now z or get priced out forever!

      1. Why are Wall Street peops so racis’ against bears?

        ‘He says while there is no science behind the SBI, Stovall’s father always told him that “it doesn’t pay to be a bear.” Americans are optimistic by nature, Robert Stovall told his son, and if an analyst is bearish and wrong, they’re ridiculed. If they’re bearish and right, they’re hated. In other words, Stovall is rooting for Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, an NFC team, this year.’

  27. I believe oxide touched on this topic last week.

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Pens Encyclopedic Account Of Bill Gates’ ‘Neo-Feudalism’

    by Steve Watson
    February 8th 2021, 3:50 am

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr
    @RobertKennedyJr
    ·
    Feb 4
    READ + SHARE my latest on #TheDefender as I dive deep on #BillGates quietly becoming the largest owner of farmland in the U.S. and the irresistible pull #Gates has to exert monopoly control over global food supplies.

    Kennedy warns that “To cloak his dystopian plans for humanity in benign intentions, Gates has expropriated the rhetoric of “sustainability,” “biodiversity,” “good stewardship” and “climate.””

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/robert-f-kennedy-jr-pens-encyclopedic-account-of-bill-gates-neo-feudalism

    1. One of the financial prepper/goldbug channels asked Jim Rawles about Bill Gates buying land. Rawles is a pioneer in survival and prepper bloggin. Rawles himself wasn’t worried at all about Gates buying the land. Gates has so much money that even a modest diversified investment, percentage-wise, in real estate looks like a lot to the rest of us. I think Gates wants to use the land for sustainable agriculture experimentation, which isn’t a terrible thing. And at the end of the day, I would much rather Gates have the land than China.

    2. I read that Jesse Ventura is tired of the billionaires exerting their political influence beyond one voice, one vote.

    3. Writing for his Childrens Health Defense group, Kennedy notes that “It’s baffling to me how so many of my friends in the environmental movement have swallowed Gates’ chicanery.”

      The “environmentalist movement” has always been about chicanery. They’re just upset that Gates has muscled in on their turf.

      It’s interesting to watch what the different billionaires focus on: Musk wants to move to Mars, where he could establish his own independent state. Bezos wants to do the same, while remaining in Earth orbit. Gates wants to own all the farms, forcing us to eat bugs and greens, ride our bicycles, etc., “to save the world”, while he continues to live the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

  30. R u planning to pay for your Tesla in Bitcoin?

    And do you plan to buy before or after joining the Martian colony?

      1. Is there any question that we have entered a New Era where risk asset prices always go up and fundamentals no longer matter?

        1. We have billionaires, namely Elon Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya, openly and knowingly manipulating stocks and/or cryptocurrencies via Twitter with impunity. That’s where we are.

      2. https://twitter.com/BradMunchen/status/1358797641207881729:

        1/ News of $TSLA buying $BTC came out 40 min after some inglorious news from China emerged regarding Tesla quality problems.

        *Five* govt agencies warned Tesla’s top brass about mounting complaints over quality problems.

        Elon likely released the 10-K w/ $BTC news b/c of this.

        2/ $TSLA being questioned by 5 CCP agencies is the #2 news trending on China’s Weibo now & made it to the nightly news.

        I’m told:
        1) This will be a big blow to Tesla’s brand image
        2) 5 agencies issuing warnings at once is unprecedented

        More recalls & higher costs to come?

        3/ While $TSLA recalled 30K S/X last year due to screen problems, complaints about sudden-unintended acceleration (SUA) problems are also rising in China.

        There were 15 SUA complaints last year in China w/ the Models S/X/3. This sounds like a lot even vs the US.

        4/ $TSLA responded to the 5 agencies. Never seen them being this humble & remorseful (CCP must be scary af when they’re angry).

        $TSLA essentially promised the CCP to stop screwing its customers, which is something new for Tesla’s business model & surely a herculean task.

        5/ To ensure adequate quality of its cars, $TSLA will now have to spend on:

        -Voluntary recalls (SUA, whompy wheels, range loss, etc)
        -Bolstered quality control
        -Revamped manufacturing processes

        $TSLAQ

        Link to the article making waves (worth a read): http://finance.eastmoney.com/a/202102081807250893.html

  31. Here’s a sneak preview of what happens when Democrats with no grasp of basic economics gain control of the government.

    2. The pay bump was in theory a temporary one. Kroger knows that it will become permanent.

      Let the leftist pols stamp their little feet. If they don’t like it, they can take over the closed stores and see just how hard it is to run a business without losing money.

      1. see just how hard it is to run a business

        They don’t have the same business model as you do. Run the store on an open ended government budget. Appoint yourself to a six figure admin position.

        1. I have yet to see a single municipal supermarket.

          They know that the store would have huge losses, which is why they want to stick the bill to Kroger, Walmart, Safeway, etc. They figured that the grocers would just accept it as a “cost of doing business.” It didn’t occur to the Marxists that they could close their stores and that customers could just drive across city lines to shop, leaving their sales tax in the neighboring city.

          Of course if every jurisdiction in the metro LA area does this, then the grocer has to decide if they want to leave metro LA altogether, which would involve some exit costs.

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