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Investors Have To Think: Am I Going To Be Able To Pay That Back?

A report from Realtor.com. “The residential real estate market has been on a wild tear for the past few years—and the pandemic has pushed things to new, uncharted extremes. ‘The very nature of the pandemic, through the health implications, social distancing, and need to isolate, has really brought a central focus on the importance of home for most Americans,’ says George Ratiu, senior economist at realtor.com®. ‘In a sense, it has elevated real estate markets as a centerpiece of our lives.'”

“One grim note: Once the foreclosure moratorium ends, homeowners who haven’t been able to financially rebound from the crisis may be forced to sell their homes. This could also add to the supply of properties on the market. ‘That will help alleviate scarcity concerns,’ says Rocke Andrews, of Lending Arizona in Tucson, AZ.”

From Reuters. “The median existing house price jumped 15.8% from a year ago to $313,000 in February. Economists, however, do not believe another housing bubble is developing, noting that the surge is being mostly driven by a mismatch between supply and demand, rather than speculation, which triggered the 2008 global financial crisis.”

The Real Deal. “Until recently, iBuying was largely a two-horse race. Now, Offerpad’s decision to go public in a $3 billion SPAC deal has put rivals Opendoor and Zillow on notice. The deal, with a blank-check firm backed by Zillow co-founder and former CEO Spencer Rascoff, was announced last week.”

“As the market leader, Opendoor sold 9,193 homes last year, generating $2.6 billion in annual revenue. It lost $98 million on an EBITDA basis. In 2020, Offerpad generated $1.1 billion in revenue with $5 million in EBITDA losses. In 2020, Zillow sold 4,281 homes and its iBuying business generated $1.7 billion in revenue in 2020, with $241.9 million in EBITDA losses.”

The Miami Herald in Florida. “In Miami-Dade County, the median sales price dipped to $450,000 in February despite shrinking supply, according to the Miami Realtors Association latest sales report. That marks a 4% dip from its record high of $470,000 in January, and the first decrease in single-family home prices since the COVID-19 lockdown a year ago.”

“The price decrease came as a surprise to Nancy Corey, the southeast Florida regional vice president for Coldwell Banker Realty. She said the the price drop could be due to increased sales activity below the median sales price. ‘This could tilt the market,’ she said.”

From Emirates Woman. “After purchasing her luxury penthouse apartment in New York City less than one year ago, Bella Hadid has officially put her home on the market. Having bought it for $6.1 million back in 2020, the supermodel is seeking nearly $6.5 million. The 23-year-old’s sister’s boyfriend Zayn Malik previously owned a unit in the same building. Having purchased his property in the bespoke and exclusive building in 2017 for $10.3 million, the singer went onto sell the apartment at a major loss.”

The New York Post. “Michael Jordan hasn’t slam-dunked a buyer on his Illinois mansion in its nine years on the market, The Post has learned. Jordan purchased the Highland Park estate with his wife at the time in 1991 for $2 million. Jordan initially listed the 7-acre home in 2012 for a whopping $29 million. But without any offers, the nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom abode is now on the market for $14,855,000.”

“In 2013, one year after the property first hit the market, the price fell to $21 million. It was then relisted the same year for $16 million. Even after last year’s hit ESPN documentary series about Jordan, no offers have been made on the house.”

The Bay Area Newsgroup in California. “A big residential development in Los Altos that would have added nearly 200 homes in the posh Silicon Valley city has stumbled into default on its mortgage, raising the specter of foreclosure on the property. The default notice has been filed on a loan for a property where a high-density housing project totaling 196 units has been proposed on El Camino Real in Los Altos.”

From Fox LA in California. “When Tracie and Myles Albert purchased a beautiful four-bedroom house in Riverside, California they never realized that at the end of escrow the seller would suddenly refuse to give up the keys and leave. Chris Taylor is the Real Estate Agent who sold the house to the Alberts from a man who wanted to sell immediately. ‘He needed $560,000 from the sale of his house in two weeks and he called me on a Sunday, so in traditional real estate there’s no way of doing that unless the buyer’s a cash buyer,’ says Taylor.”

“‘It’s just draining, emotionally and financially,’ says Tracie. On January 31, 2020, the couple purchased the home. More than a year later, they still haven’t been able get inside their property. Since the house was free and clear and worth more than $560,000 the Alberts felt it was a great deal. ‘It took us scrambling to get everything we had, our life savings put together and a hard money loan on top of it to make that happen,’ Myles stated.”

From Global News in Canada. “After the pandemic-fuelled housing boom that swept much of the country in the second half of 2020, a cross-country comparison reveals the bucks goes a lot less far than it used to across Canada. The national average sale price of a home in Canada was up a whopping 25 per cent in February compared to the same month in 2020, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.”

“Having your ducks in a row will allow you to swiftly make a strong, credible offer when you see something you like, King says. ‘Don’t incrementally move up,’ says Romana King, director of content at Zolo. ‘Go in with your best offer.'”

“At the same time, though, you don’t want to go overboard. There’s nothing worst than winning a bidding war only to be hit by buyer’s remorse because you spent too much. ‘You should be buying based on your personal financial budget, not on the top price your bank told you can buy at,’ King says. Your bank’s lending limit doesn’t take into account a variety of costs — from pet food to child care costs — that might impact your cashflow, she adds.”

From Bloomberg. “New Zealand’s government took aim at property speculators with a suite of new measures to tackle runaway house prices and prevent the formation of a ‘dangerous’ bubble. The government will remove tax incentives for investors to make speculation less lucrative and unlock more land to increase housing supply, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. ‘The last thing home owners need right now is a dangerous housing bubble, but a number of indicators point towards that risk,’ Ardern told a news conference. ‘Property investors are now the biggest share of buyers, with the highest amount of purchases on record. Last year, 15,000 people bought homes who already owned five or more.'”

From News Hub. “Cracking down on investors won’t fix the housing market and instead worsen the country’s rental crisis, the New Zealand Property Investors Federation says. Speaking to Newshub on Tuesday, federation chief executive Sharon Cullwick argued a large number of investors may now exit the industry.”

“Property commentator Ashley Church said the Government’s package was ‘desperate.’ ‘I think it’s because they simply don’t know what they’re doing and this is a desperate attempt to be seen to do something, and that’s partly by showing money at things at partly by a bit of virtue signalling. [It’s] not going to make any difference to the problems they’re trying to resolve.'”

“Economist Brad Olsen agreed the bright-line extension won’t fix the housing market by itself. ‘It does mean people are going to make a different decision when it comes to investing in property because if they are wanting to flick it quickly and get some of those capital gains, they’re going to have to pay tax on it – just like you and I do for income when we go to work each day,’ Olsen told Magic Talk host Peter Williams.”

“National leader Judith Collins, meanwhile, believes the Government has broken a pre-election promise of no new taxes. ‘This Government has taken the bright-line test, turned it into a full-scale capital gains tax,’ she said. ‘They’ve lied to New Zealanders.'”

From Stuff New Zealand. “Property economist Kelvin Davidson of CoreLogic said instead of a fast reaction, there might be ‘a slow burn’ as investors assessed their changed situations. The quickest effects may be psychological, especially following other rule changes affecting landlords such as new mortgage deposit restrictions and insulation standards, he said.”

“‘I think we will see some existing investors selling because their sums will change, and they will have to top up their mortgage. Investors just have to take it on the chin – the profitability of the business has gone down,’ Davidson said.”

“Canterbury Property Investors Association president Shirley Berryman said some investors were talking of selling up, but there was always a knee-jerk reaction. ‘It’s imperative for investors to plan. They have to think: am I going to be able to pay that back? Where will I be in five or 10 years?’ Some investors unable to service their debts would be considering whether to sell, especially retired landlords without extra income, she said.”

“While property valuer Natalie Edwards ‘understood the pain’ of homebuyers, constantly changing investment rules was ‘a slap in the face’ for landlords. Investors might ‘slim down’ their portfolios and spread their investments to include shares or commercial consortiums, Edwards said. ‘It will change property as being the golden ticket for retirement.'”

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This Post Has 118 Comments

  1. ‘In a sense, it has elevated real estate markets as a centerpiece of our lives’

    Yeah George, and the inland empire is the center of the universe.

    ‘Once the foreclosure moratorium ends, homeowners who haven’t been able to financially rebound from the crisis may be forced to sell’

    Oh, that!

    1. I’m not sure why the national foreclosure moratorium that’s been in place for over 10 years doesn’t get more airplay.

      1. Because the market manipulators don’t want a flood of homes on the market, which would dilute prices.

        1. And I guess they don’t want more stories of single mothers (who “find themselves” with a couple kids at age 21) with their stuff on the sidewalk. There was a lot of that in 2009.

  2. ‘A big residential development in Los Altos that would have added nearly 200 homes in the posh Silicon Valley city has stumbled into default on its mortgage, raising the specter of foreclosure on the property’

    Wa? One shack, mucho bonanza! 200 shacks = a$$ pounding?

    Somebody is a lion.

  4. ‘It’s just draining, emotionally and financially…It took us scrambling to get everything we had, our life savings put together and a hard money loan on top of it to make that happen’

    The winnah! And it’s the center piece of yer lives!

  6. ‘It does mean people are going to make a different decision when it comes to investing in property because if they are wanting to flick it quickly and get some of those capital gains, they’re going to have to pay tax on it – just like you and I do for income when we go to work each day’

    Work? Wa happened to my golden ticket?

    ‘‘This Government has taken the bright-line test, turned it into a full-scale capital gains tax…They’ve lied to New Zealanders’

    Stamp yer little feet Judith. Again, the guberment takes away the free cheese and DONG! Greenspan did the same thing. And Canadia is about to cut shack gamblers knees off too. So why would they do that? Cover their own a$$es when the $hit is about to hit the fan. How many times does that have to happen?

  7. ‘She said the the price drop could be due to increased sales activity below the median sales price. ‘This could tilt the market’

    The mix!

    ‘Even after last year’s hit ESPN documentary series about Jordan, no offers have been made on the house’

    Writers are funny. Just exactly why would I give a damn about a documentary?

  8. ‘There’s nothing worst than winning a bidding war only to be hit by buyer’s remorse because you spent too much. ‘You should be buying based on your personal financial budget, not on the top price your bank told you can buy at’

    I’ll let that hang out there…

    1. ‘You should be buying based on your personal financial budget, not on the top price your bank told you can buy at’

      I remember those only spend 25% of your income on your mortgage or rent payment when lots of people got turned down for credit cards and car loans.

      1. March 26, 2020

        “As America heads into a deep recession, the $11 trillion residential-mortgage market is in crisis. Investors who buy home loans packaged into bonds are dumping even those with federal backing because of panic that millions might not make their payments. Yet one risky sector had started to show cracks long before the coronavirus pandemic sparked the worst financial meltdown in 12 years: the federal government’s largest affordable-housing program, whose lenient terms are geared toward marginal borrowers.”

        “As real estate prices soared in recent years, working-class adults everywhere have increasingly relied on mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration — and U.S. taxpayers. Since 2007, the FHA’s portfolio has tripled in value to more than $1.2 trillion, almost 11% of the market. While private lenders make these loans, they are packaged into Ginnie Mae bonds, common in mutual funds and pensions.”

        “Before Covid-19 started roiling China, a November FHA report found that 27% of borrowers last year spent more than half their incomes on debt, a level it describes as ‘unprecedented.’ The share of FHA loans souring in their first six months has doubled over the last three years to almost 1%.”

        “Not long ago, Alex Castillo drove his shiny black Infiniti SUV through an office park north of the San Antonio airport, along a busy seven-mile stretch of highway that loan officers call ‘Mortgage Row’ because of its abundance of small independent mortgage companies that dominate FHA lending. Castillo, who has the words ‘The Dream Starts Here’ stitched into his jacket, works for Pennsylvania-based American Residential Lending. Oddly, amid the pandemic, his business is booming. His customers locked in FHA mortgages after interest rates plunged this month — adding to federally backed mortgage debt.”

        “‘If the government tells me you’re good enough to get a loan, I have to trust and believe in the government,’ Castillo said. ‘Then we just hope and pray that the client doesn’t get foreclosed on.’”

        “In downtown San Antonio, scores of investors stood on a parched lawn beside the city’s historic granite-and-red-sandstone courthouse. It was the first Tuesday of February, the day of the foreclosure auction. Matt Badders, a San Antonio lawyer who represents lenders, auctioned off two houses. The failed mortgages remind him of the run-up to the financial crisis 12 years ago, when lending to customers with spotty credit nearly brought down the world’s financial system. ‘We’re almost back to 2007, when mortgage originators are waking people up on park benches, saying sign here,’ Badders said.”

        “At the auction, the crowd bid on 338 homes, a third with FHA mortgages, according to Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing Service. One house had dual master bedrooms, a game room and granite kitchen counters. It sold for $202,000 — $52,000 less than the homeowner borrowed only two years ago. The taxpayer-backed FHA insurance fund will take a loss.”

        “Dave Stevens, FHA commissioner under President Barack Obama and former chief executive officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said a recession will expose hidden risks in home lending. ‘This should be an alarm bell to policymakers,’ Stevens said. ‘Sometimes you get blinded by a good economy and suddenly look at it and see a bubble of defaults coming.’”

        “The federal government has decided it doesn’t want to pursue — and has asked a judge to dismiss — a lawsuit against Utah-based Academy Mortgage Corp. The judge refused. The suit claims the company’s staff would repeatedly feed information into an automated federal underwriting system, manipulating it until the computer gave the green light. ‘Decline is a curse word,’ Plaintiff Gwen Thrower, a former underwriter, quoted a manager as saying. ‘We don’t use it.’”

        http://housingbubble.blog/?p=3070

        ‘If the government tells me you’re good enough to get a loan, I have to trust and believe in the government…Then we just hope and pray that the client doesn’t get foreclosed on’

      2. “I remember”

        I remember being horrified to learn I was “approved” for a loan amount of $279K, to buy my first house at $169K. This was in a choice part of Portland not so long ago. Now that house has a “value” of nearly $600K and people are ecstatic to be approved for much more than they probably should be. Weird times.

    2. That’s been hanging out there for 20+ years. Even when I bought in 2012, the bank thought I might be approved for $125K more than I actually spent. The realtor even tried to show me what $125K more would buy, just like they do on HGTV shows.

      1. approved for $125K more than I actually spent

        The last time I bought a dream shack with money I didn’t have (2001), the bank approved me for payments exceeding my take home pay. That includes the payments I was still making on the unsold old shack, but it was an eyeopener.

        1. Here in California, the space between available monthly income and qualified payments is so thin it reminds me of the “coffin corner” of the U2 spyplanes of the 1960’s. At their altitude, a few MPH too slow and the wing would stall; a few MPH too fast and the aircraft would break up as it edged into Mach 1.

          We’ve got a lot of test pilots hanging out there in this stratosphere.

          1. ‘Here in California, the space between available monthly income and qualified payments is so thin’

            This. I did that once so I could live by the beach, with a young family. It really resonates. When the venture funding cycle turns and the jobs vanish, the costs don’t go down one bit. It can be tough to find any job, much less one that meets the payments. And there you are. They may have been young and foolish, or blinded by dreams. I was both. My heart goes out to those people.

          2. It would be interesting to gather all our stories together. Things have obviously happened in every adult’s life, but the conditions that bring us to this website and being housing bears while we watch everyone around us basically taking tequila shots as they brandish someone else’s cash at an auction.

            Tidbit about me is that my spouse’s medical condition keeps kicking us to the curb, so I get to keep re-experiencing cycles of being a prospective first-time homebuyer for 20+ years. You almost can’t do it, with age and experience. It seems to rely on youth and optimism to buy into the market in most years.

          3. “You almost can’t do it, with age and experience.”

            You really need a paid for place before you reach retirement age since you cannot rely on pension income to keep pace with rent increases.

    3. ‘There’s nothing worst than winning a bidding war only to be hit by buyer’s remorse because you spent too much. ‘You should be buying based on your personal financial budget, not on the top price your bank told you can buy at’

      – Mr. Banker? Hello? Bueller? Anyone?

      Quotes from “Jurassic Park”, 1993 (A movie about dinosaurs running amuck)
      John Hammond: All major theme parks have delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked!
      Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but, John, if The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.

      Dr. Ian Malcolm: God help us, we’re in the hands of [financial] engineers.

      Dr. Ian Malcolm: If I may… Um, I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you’re using here, it didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now
      [bangs on the table]
      Dr. Ian Malcolm: you’re selling it, you wanna sell it. Well…
      John Hammond: I don’t think you’re giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody’s ever done before…
      Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.

      – The recent phenomenon of (Central Bank-induced) asset bubbles over the past 20-odd years is just a distraction to keep the masses from thinking about how globalists offshored their jobs, wages have stagnated as prices have soared due to massive inflation, and how their wealth has been generally stripmined via financial engineering/financialization. This has been more about wealth transfer and slight-of-hand than anything, IMHO.
      – Recall that asset bubbles always burst. There’s never a “soft landing.” References: 2000, 2008. Is it different this time? /s
      – Has anyone revisited the buy vs. rent tradeoff recently? Rents are falling while SFH is skyrocketing? It seems like SFH purchase doesn’t “pencil out” anymore compared to renting, but I haven’t “run the numbers” lately.

  10. “The very nature of the pandemic, through the health implications, social distancing, and need to isolate, has really brought a central focus on the importance of home for most Americans”
    I live in an apartment and I think the exact opposite, Thank God I am not stuck someplace. I can just pack, leave and go someplace “better” without the hassle of selling the house. In fact, the pandemic has made me change my mind and now I am pretty sure I don’t want to own a house in the States.

  11. “Never let a crisis go to waste” — Rahm Emanual

    Here come the grabber narratives. Real Journalists are gonna turn it up to eleven this week about Boulder, and will unanimously ignore what happens in Chicago EVERY DAY.

    Last weekend:

    “Chicago Police Department reported 20 shootings involving 25 total victims from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Four people were killed during that time”

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-crime-shot-boy-during-weekend-bloodshed

    Yesterday:

    “Fifteen people were shot, three of them fatally, Monday in Chicago”

    https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/3/23/22346042/15-shot-3-fatally-monday-march-22-crime-fatal-gun-violence-chicago

    The grabbers do not care about any of these people, because they are politically useless to them, because it DOES NOT SELL A NARRATIVE.

    “Shall not be infringed” is not subject to interpretation.

    P.S. today is Tuesday, March 23rd and Joe Biden is not the legitimately elected president of the United States.

    We will NEVER recognize you as a legitimate president.

    1. Listening to the ABC national news coverage pasted into the local news of the Boulder “mass shooting” with a “long gun” where the witness on teevee says there must have been “30 shots” just “pop-pop-pop-pop-pop” and another says (paraphrased) “there I was just getting a soda and I almost lost my life”.at a grocery store (public place with lots of innocents like a school).

      It’s almost like they are reading a script written by someone with an agenda.

    2. Comments from the Infowars site on the Boulder Grocery Store Shooting story.

      23 minutes ago
      Hmmm weird. No mass shootings really during trump administration and now Biden’s in who openly has plans to take all guns, with multiple mass shootings. I don’t think it’s random or a coincidence.

      23 minutes ago
      Witnesses said they saw a man dressed in camo and body armor shooting and there were more than one shooter.

      26 minutes ago
      Always start up with mass shootings when a new POTUS gets in. Time to drum up support to ban “assault weapons”. Y’all should know the drill by now they’ve been following the same procedure for decades. Same old song and dance and oldest trick in the book.

        1. Here we go.

          All the networks have cut in for the “Mass shooting” we can’t feel safe in a grocery store or our schools we need to change.

          Personally, I am not afraid of being one of the few hundred who are killed by rifles in this country every year but I do keep a close eye out when driving so I don’t become one of the ten-thousand taken out by drunk drivers or three-thousand-five hundred taken out by distracted (texting) drivers every year.

          1. The Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting animals for food.

            It’s purpose is for resistance to, and if needed, the overthrow of, tyrannical government.

            Unelected globalists do not govern this country.

          3. Just saw a headline, “guns are a public health crisis.” If so, Fauci could abolish the 2nd all by himself.

          4. “Police identified the suspect as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, a 21-year-old Arvada, CO man, though his motive for the attack was not specified at this time”

            He’s gonna get Zimmerman’d. Because there was a narrative to sell, George Zimmerman’s half Peruvian ancestry was summarily erased by Real Journalists.

            And just in case the Boulder narrative collapses (and gets memory holed by Real Journalists), the alphabet agency glowies have another Adam Lanza on the payroll.

            Globalists gonna globe.

      2. No mass shootings really during trump administration

        They’ll blame it on Trump anyway, since evidently he “incited” all the race hate.

      3. ‘No mass shootings really during trump administration’

        That dude has memory loss, I can think of several, Las Vegas, Thousand Oaks, a couple high schools, etc, all took place during the Trump Admin.

        The notion that these shootings are staged is just crazy. Go tell that to the dead cop’s seven kids.

  13. “The median existing house price jumped 15.8% from a year ago to $313,000 in February. Economists, however, do not believe another housing bubble is developing, noting that the surge is being mostly driven by a mismatch between supply and demand, rather than speculation, which triggered the 2008 global financial crisis.”

    They might be right. We’ll know for sure if we see an inventory rebound and double digit home price and rent declines after the end of the covid foreclosure and eviction moratoriums.

    2. Economists, however, do not believe another housing bubble is developing, noting that the surge is being mostly driven by a mismatch between supply and demand, rather than speculation, which triggered the 2008 global financial crisis.

      According to these “economists,” speculation is the only cause of housing bubbles. Artificial suppression of supply isn’t a problem.

      2. Nor is artificial goosing of demand through subprime underwriting standards, subsidized government loan guarantees, price support, and interest rate suppression…

  14. Editorial: ‘Mansion tax’ the wrong fit for CT

    Hearst Connecticut Media Editorial Board
    March 17, 2021

    A common theme among various measures winding their way through the General Assembly this session has been a need for new revenue. A pandemic-induced slowdown will do that, and lawmakers are turning over every rock looking for ways to pay for government functions.

    That is behind drives to legalize recreational marijuana and sports gaming. A group of progressive legislators is seeking widespread tax increases on wealthier residents. And Senate President Martin Looney has proposed a statewide property tax, on top of the local property tax everyone pays, to help cities that have an overabundance of nontaxable properties within their borders.

    https://www.ctpost.com/opinion/article/Editorial-Mansion-tax-the-wrong-fit-for-CT-16033389.php

    1. Weicker doomed CT back in the early 90’s by imposing a state income tax. It’s been a slow slide into the abyss every since. CT was half dead then. The only thing gained is a whole herd of poor people.

    2. speaking of CT: UConn student government denounces its president after his support of free speech bill

      https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17060

      University of Connecticut spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz told Campus Reform that the school would decline to comment “out of respect for the autonomy of the Undergraduate Student Government and its decision-making process.”

      1. Denial of free speech sounds great when you can use it to silence people you don’t like. It never occurs to these Einsteins that it could be used against them. Just like they think they will never be cancelled.

  15. Are you worried about the great muppet reaping that awaits the young investing set who have loaded up on GameStonk?

    1. The Financial Times
      Investments
      FCA warns over young people engaging in high-risk investing
      Inexperienced investors face danger of excessive losses on volatile products, says regulator
      Madison Darbyshire an hour ago

      The Financial Conduct Authority has warned that financially vulnerable younger investors are engaging in “unsuitable” high-risk investing offered by rapidly growing investment apps.

      Almost two-thirds of new investors buying products classified as high risk, such as cryptocurrencies and foreign exchange, would struggle to afford their losses if their investments soured, said the UK regulator in a report published on Tuesday.

      “We are worried that some investors are being tempted — often through online adverts or high-pressure sales tactics — into buying higher-risk products that are very unlikely to be suitable for them,” said Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA.

      The warning comes at a time when trading by retail investors has surged to all-time highs, fuelled by the pandemic. Low-cost trading and easy user access to investment platforms has made stock trading simpler than ever before, while locked-down savers have more spare time and spare cash to put into markets.

      The risks involved have been highlighted by the volatile swings in the shares of GameStop, the US consumer electronics retailer, which has drawn many first-time investors into the market.
      …

      1. Fixed it…

        “The warning comes at a time when trading by retail investors has surged to all-time highs, fuelled by the central banking cartel’s response to the pandemic.”

      2. Fixed it…

        “The warning comes at a time when trading by retail investors has surged to all-time highs, fueled by jobs being offshored and savers being punished with low or negative interest rates.”

        1. I get the low interest rates, but how does sending our jobs offshore fuel retail investing?

          1. The article isn’t talking about 401K-style investing. they are referring to high-risk day-trading and short-squeezing and other get-rich-quick investing. If people could get ahead in a normal career with a fair chance at a comfortable retirement, they wouldn’t feel the need for the risky investing.

  17. Government and Government agencies were suppose to be in service of the people in a free society based on the rules of law.
    Schools weren’t suppose to be political brainwashing centers. The welfare system wasn’t suppose to be used to bribe and recruit people to a one party political system, or people crossing the Borders illegally.
    Big Globalist Monopolies, like big Pharma where not suppose to gain control over peoples life to loot the Country with a unjustified Pandemic that only affects under.01 % of the population to cram untested vaccines down the throats of people, that normally there would be no justification for.
    95 % of the Media shouldn’t be owned by Monopolist that are controlling all information to fraudulently take over the USA with false narratives , which is really a criminal insurrection of the USA, and a assault on the First amendment.
    Government wasn’t suppose to be the pawn of Monopoly Special Interest groups that have rigged, looted and taken over the Country and created a power structure of parasite wealth creation with unsustainable bubbles and Monopoly looting.
    Government programs to create a One World Order of control over populations is treasonous to the Constitution and the Bill of rights. The targeting of the White Race to abuse and demonize is a divide and conquer tactic which is discriminating and anti Constitution.
    False premises like Climate Change and critical race theory or Covid 19 Medical Fraud are all being used as a power grab by Entities that corrupted Government .
    People were not suppose to be ruled by big Globalist Monopolies and Foreign enemies that would like to see the fall of the USA.
    Open Borders is treasonous by the current corrupt Puppets in the White House , that they were criminally put there by a rigged election to advance the agendas of the Monopolies power grab.
    In everyway these Entities that have seized power of Fed and State Governments are intent on controlling populations and destroying Government by the people.
    I think if they try to close down again based on the Covid 19 Varient Mutant theory, they might get far more resistance than before,
    People are going to reject living with diapers on their face forever in spite of Big Pharma trying to normalize this bizarre behavior as well as getting jabbed by experimental vaccines they will try to inflict on people repeatedly. The invisible enemy, or any enemy they create by false narratives is to disguise that they are the enemy. You can’t trust Entities like this . The Medical/Pharma Cartel has no liability on the harm they cause by the vaccine , so that alone should be a red flag.
    Like most big Monopolies they have transferred the risk of harm to the Government as in government backed real estate loans, school loans, vaccines, etc. etc.

    1. Sure, why not? At some point there will still be pain, either from those not paying the rent, or those not getting the rent. Either way, someone is getting stiffed, and it will have major ramifications in the economy, which it should. You don’t just close down a capitalist economy without there eventually being massive pain, no matter how long the goobermint kicks the can down the road.

      1. “CDC Likely To Extend Eviction Moratorium With Millions Of People Behind On Rent”

        – Recall that rent deferrals and moratoria don’t magically erase the past due balance; it just keeps increasing the longer this goes on. The same comment applies to mortgages in arrears. The problem grows larger every month that payments are deferred. Not sure it will ever be dealt with at this rate. It’s all fantasy land until then.
        – With the current wave declining, millions of people getting vaccinated, and with many expecting the virus to burn out by early summer, what happens then to the deferrals and moratoria? When do those owed $ get paid? Does the current financial purgatory just continue ad infinitum? Interesting times indeed.

    2. CDC Likely To Extend Eviction Moratorium

      Prepare for another run on XBoxes, Playstations, TVs, iPhones and other popular toys.

    3. Extend Eviction Moratorium
      I thought a Texas Federal Judge said the CDC Eviction Moratorium was illegal

      2. what is the end game, millions homeless and begging for free shelter or will they be told go back and live with your parents till you can afford to rent on your own?

          1. It’s good to either be very poor or very rich in order to win the housing lottery. Middle Class households who were put out of work by pandemic measures are screwed.

          3. What about low income renters with disagreeable landlords?

            “San Diego officials are urging those who have lost income due to COVID-19 to apply for rental assistance. KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen says the city has more than $83 million to give away.

            AB: The money comes from the two most recent federal stimulus laws. Low-income tenants who have suffered financial hardship under the pandemic can have all of their back rent covered if their landlord agrees to forgive 20% of it.”

      3. IMO, the accusations of control are still a little bit premature. I’m still giving them until July 4, or to be generous, July 31. By then we should be mask-off and still have few deaths. If the CDCs and the governors and the Oregon OSHA all to to continue with this the nonsense after that, then I’ll join in the anti-control protests.

        1. At this point, they’re only extending the controls to ensure the Pharma guys get their payday. It is reported to be the most profitable drug roll out in history.

          1. COVID-19 is the greatest fraud ever perpetuated.

            Wear the cuck mask.
            Live in the cuck shed.
            Eat the bugs, take the vaccine, own nothing, be happy.

          2. most profitable drug roll out in history

            Extremely limited R&D, insanely abbreviated clinical trials, a guaranteed deep pocket buyer assuming all financial and operational risk, and zero liability. KA-CHING!!! It’s making others in the industry envious. I sat in a Zoom call discussing biotech prospects after COVID-19.

          3. Zoom call

            It sounded like the VC on the panel passed up an opportunity to invest in Moderna. At the time, he and others thought the technology was a least a decade or so out before proving itself.

          4. Operation Warp Speed in a nutshell?

            “Extremely limited R&D, insanely abbreviated clinical trials, a guaranteed deep pocket buyer assuming all financial and operational risk, and zero liability. KA-CHING!!!”

          5. in a nutshell

            My original description is missing corrupt bureaucrats and eugenics-loving technocrats.

          6. I should also add: suppression of cheap and effective prophylactics/therapeutics to justify the emergency use authorization (EUA), not FDA approval, of new “vaccine” technology arguably reviewed by an office within the FDA least familiar with the technology (OVRR vs. OTAT).

  20. “at the end of escrow the seller would suddenly refuse to give up the keys and leave. Chris Taylor ”

    I’ve only bought 3 houses in my life but this seems like a huge screw up by the agent. Isn’t the escrow company supposed to be the 3rd party that #1)takes posession of all of the funds and all of the keys to the property then #2) gives the seller and the agent their funds, and all of the keys to the buyer?
    How did the seller get the funds when they hadn’t left the property or turned over the keys?

    1. From what I have observed in the past, turning over the property to the new owner was always on the honor system.

    2. All the more reason that you need to wear a mask while driving alone, at least until the year 2030.

        1. Sorry I didn’t complete the post before I accidentally sent it.
          Anyway, I have been lead down the path where numerous Doctors say they never really proved in the normal scientific way that viruses actually exist. You find out that it’s been just a theory all these years without the normal proof in medical science. I know that’s shocking, and how do you explain people dying that looks like some kind of a contagious thing coming from the outside .
          Apparently they don’t really have proof that a virus is causing this, not to be confused with bacteria, parasites, toxins, fungus, or mosquitos that inject disease by biting the person.
          This is why the isolated virus under the microscope with proof it’ was cause of a transferable disease hasn’t really been proven yet , according to about a dozen Doctors I have heard lately.
          In fact, in Medical School when they teach virus theory, they claim the proof will be coming, but it never does. They have isolated some proteins that seem to be part of a shedding of garbage the body does , but they haven’t confirmed that this is a virus.
          So, I’m a layman who is just finding out that a bunch of Doctors are waiting for the virus theory to be proven.
          I know, I know, I was shocked also to find out that the virus theory isn’t as solid as they would like you to believe. Also, than what the hell are vaccines if viruses haven’t really been proven?
          Your guess is as good as mind, but snake oil comes to mind.
          Polio can be linked to the widespread spraying in agriculture they were doing at the time, I’m just repeating what these Drs are saying..

          1. that viruses actually exist

            Do you not know from your own experience that the common cold is contagious?

  23. Talking about Monopolies. It’s interesting to note that prior to 1910 all kinds of medical practices existed that included nutrition, herbal remedies, you name it.
    Than one of the biggest Monopolist of all times called John D Rockefeller decided that money could be made in this Medical business.
    Rockefeller formed the American Medical Association. He also bought a Pharma Company. Than he embarked on a smear campaign to destroy other forms of medical therapy . competition. He got the Government to only give a license the AMA Doctors from the Medical Schools he bribed by grants to push the Pharma approach to medical , and other practices. The entire hospital system evolved from this original Monopoly created by that dirtbag Rockefeller.
    Not to say that there hasn’t been advancement in Medicine for the last 100 years, but it’s interesting how Modern Medicine was formed by the biggest Monopolist of all time who destroyed other healing practices in favor of the Pharma approach, etc.

    1. BlueSkye ,
      So, in answer to your question about the common cold, these Doctors would say that their isn’t proof that a cold isn’t the bodies way of getting rid of toxins that have built up as opposed to something you caught like a virus.
      Just because a lot of people get the symptoms of a cold usually around winter time doesn’t mean it not some kind of process the body does to rid itself of something not caused by a virus, these Doctors would assert.

      1. Just because a lot of people get the symptoms of a cold

        My situation is that I raised four kids. When school was in session there were colds and flu in our house and we took turns being sick. When they graduated, it stopped. Immediately. No correlation to my diet.

        1. Maybe the lack of stress of child rearing was helpful. The fact that families tend to get the same symptoms might be due to similar food and stresses, or maybe its a weather change thing, who knows.

          1. There is always some other hypothesis that may explain whatever you are witnessing besides the widely accepted one.

            I’ll never forget watching Niel Armstrong’s televised first walk on the moon from my great uncle’s Kansas living room, as he explained how it was actually a movie made in Hollywood that we were watching.

          3. Don’t give up oxide, I was repeating what actual MD”s were saying about the standard of poof. Are they crazy people, big liars, I don’t know. I keep a open mind about this stuff . They sure didn’t sound like they were nuts. Just like those Doctors that were saying that the therapy drugs were working on Covid who ended up getting censored, in favor of untested vaccines being pushed . If you think that 7 billion people need to be jabbed by untested vaccines for something that is only a threat to .01% of population of mostly older people or people with co- comorbidities, and this justified locking down most Countries, than go ahead and believe it. All I know is that what is going on today just doesn’t exactly add up,, especially the data on the test for this disease of Covid not being accurate. It’s very odd that people with no symptoms are testing positive for Covid 19.
            Fake news is obvious today, so what’s fake and what isn’t when disinformation and false narratives are standard practice. If you think this Medical Tyranny is justified, which is leading to vaccines being mandatory, than go ahead and believe it.

      1. Well, oxide and Professor Bear posts suggest I’m buying into conspiracy theories. I’m just taking in all the information I can before people are censored even more.
        Like most people I gave the Medical system the benefit of the doubt that they were fighting a Pandemic, until more and more information started to emerge that started to poke holes in the narratives. So, whatever one wants to believe.

        1. And Professor Bear, at one time it was ” widely accepted ” that the World was flat, until it was disproven.

          1. the World was flat

            Actually they knew the world was round. The Chinese knew it long before these European “proofs”. They had a map of the entire globe. Marco Polo went on one of their sails to North America in the employ of the pope.

        2. A £5,000 fine for anyone in England trying to travel abroad without good reason is due to come into force next week as part of new coronavirus laws.

          Compliments of the BBC.

          At least they’re not going to shoot people trying to leave the country (yet). You would think they would prefer to act not so East Germany.

          1. A £5,000 fine for anyone in England trying to travel abroad without good reason

            And they had a mere 5000 new cases yesterday. And no one complains. They meekly accept their house arrest.

    1. The Motley Fool
      Yellen and Powell to Investors: Stocks Are Getting Pricey
      The punch bowl might not get taken away, but don’t expect refills.
      Dan Caplinger
      Mar 23, 2021 at 7:39PM

      The stock market fell sharply on Tuesday, with most of the losses coming late in the session. Declines for the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average weren’t all that significant at around 1%, but some other measures of the market showed more substantial losses.

      Most investors focused on testimony by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and current Fed Chair Jerome Powell before the House Financial Services Committee. Their comments didn’t incite a sudden flash crash, but they did give investors fair warning that they shouldn’t expect the explosive gains that the market has given them over the past year to continue forever.
      …

    2. What does it portend when both the Fed Chair and Treasury Secretary weigh in with opinions on stonk prices?

      What do they hope to achieve?

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