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The Frenzy Is Not There

A report from Spectrum News on North Carolina. “Realtors in the Triangle say an inventory crisis is making the market frustrating for buyers but a great time for people looking to sell. ‘We know it sounds crazy to offer what we ask people to offer or to do some of things we ask them to do, and … once they do trust that, they can be in a really good position to win,’ said Inhabit realtor Emily Jo Roberts.”

From Minnesota Monthly. “Lines for open houses snaking around the block. Dozens of instantaneous offers, many soaring $50,000 over asking price. Rejection, rejection, rejection. Natalia Mendez and Joel Swenson were ready to give up. The first-time homebuyers had a ‘come to Jesus moment’ with their realtor, who instructed them to consider the $30,000 over asking price they’d need to offer within their budget of around $260,000. That meant waving goodbye to south Minneapolis. Then, after losing out on yet another house, their realtor texted asking if they still wanted the Cleveland property. The first deal had fallen through, so the couple swooped in on their ‘perfect, weird, little Midcentury house.'”

“‘I love Minneapolis, but I’ll be able to love Minneapolis more fully here,’ Mendez says. ‘I’m excited to not be completely surrounded by white people; I’m not the only brown person on my block, and that feels nice.'”

“So, will supply catch up to demand in the Twin Cities, and if so, when? ‘I think we’ll soften up a little this year,’ predicts Lydia Kauppi, a buyer’s agent with Pentz Homes of Keller Williams Realty. ‘I feel it happening already.'”

From Patch California. “Orange County, which is reliant on tourism, had a higher percentage of job losses than the state as a whole during the COVID-19- induced recession, Chapman University economics experts said. The university’s annual economic forecast showed the county had an 8.9% job loss last year compared to the state’s 7.4% loss. The county’s construction rate is ‘over pre-recession levels,’ Chapman President Emeritus James L. Doti said. ‘We are now in a housing bubble.'”

“A ‘V-shaped recovery’ was powered by about $5 trillion in federal COVID-19 relief, Doti said. ‘During the Great Recession it was chump change’ in comparison of federal relief, Doti said. ‘It was almost about $1 trillion.’ The forecasters predict higher inflation by 2023 and higher interest rates.”

The Austin Business Journal in Texas. “The white-hot market left many observers wondering: How long could this possibly last? Ryan Rodenbeck, owner of Spyglass Realty, said a confluence of factors are coming together to temper the unprecedented buyer demand the Austin market saw between December and May. ‘Every week we’ve had a little tiny bit more inventory than the week before. As inventory comes on the market, it slows demand,’ he said.”

“Chris Watters, CEO of Watters International Realty, said skyrocketing prices are making it impossible for many Austin residents to qualify for traditional loans. As prices go up and income doesn’t follow, the debt-to-income ratio gets skewed away from the borrower’s favor. ‘Pricing for the suburbs of Austin isn’t too far off from what you’d expect in the suburbs of Los Angeles,’ Watters said. ‘We’re getting close.'”

“Watters is far from the only person drawing comparisons to California’s mega-high housing prices. Amy Deane, a Realtor with Moreland Properties, said she had a buyer from California say that soon enough, Dripping Springs could be the new Orange County. Deane also said traditional ways Realtors have determined pricing, like looking at comparable sales to determine fair market value and pricing per square foot, have ‘almost been thrown out the window.'”

“‘We price things now based on what we think people are willing to pay,’ Deane said. ‘Comps are skewed so low, that it doesn’t really make sense.'”

“Watters said at the height of the buying frenzy, he was seeing properties get between 50 and 60 offers. Now, he’s seeing between five and 10 offers, if houses are priced appropriately. He said the drop off has happened in the past month or so. Part of the drop in intensity may be attributed to sellers’ expectations outpacing buyers’ abilities. Watters said he’s seen some houses hitting the market that are overpriced, so buyers aren’t jumping at the chance to bid.”

“‘People are hearing stories about getting $100,000 over asking, and they’re doing pie in the sky numbers based off homeowners’ goals that are unrelated to the market,’ Watters said. ‘Their expectations are too far out there. We’re starting to see fewer offers coming in.'”

The Denver Channel. “A Colorado Springs home dubbed as ‘not for the faint of heart’ has been listed in Colorado Springs. The dilapidated house features profane graffiti on almost every wall, soiled carpets from an illegal pet rescue run out of the residence and a broken refrigerator in the basement filled with rancid meat left more than a year earlier when the tenant was evicted. Even still, the house is listed for $590,000 cash.”

“‘We have an expression ‘if it smells it wont sell,’ said Mimi Foster, the listing agent with Falcon Property Company. ‘I am putting that to the test.’ Her listing, posted to Redfin, holds nothing back. In it, she calls the house ‘every landlord’s nightmare’ and says it could be ‘your own little slice of hell.’ The listing also points out that the back porch is falling off of the house and that the entire foundation sits in a ‘pink’ zone for geological landslides.”

“Even with the extensive damage, rancid smells and excessive profanity on the walls, Foster says she has received 16 written cash offers in the first 24 hours of the house being on the market. Foster says she never intended to sell the house like this, but the national freeze on home foreclosures ends in July and the owner cannot afford to fix the vandalism caused by the most recent tenant. ‘It was a happy place for decades,’ she said. ‘And somebody will come in and they will get rid of the anger and anguish that went on here.'”

From KEZI in Oregon. “Selpher Nandwa is currently renting out a property in Lane County. ‘It’s been a nightmare sincerely,’ Nandwa said. ‘Just not getting any rent from the renter since I believe October or December of last year. I haven’t received that.’ She said the manager of the property has tried filing for aid but hasn’t been successful. ‘I have to juggle between jobs,’ Nandwa said. ‘My husband is trying to work overtime. I have looked for another job so that I can pay my mortgage and my house in Oregon so I don’t lose it.'”

“However, even through all of this and with the eviction moratorium expiring at the end of the month, she said making ends meet is still going to be a struggle. ‘Knowing that although it’s coming to an end, I’m still not going to get anything until next year February when I can start asking for their money,’ Nandwa said. ‘I’ve used all my savings.’ She said after she sells her house, she will never buy a rental property again.”

The New Jersey Spotlight. “The New Jersey Apartment Association, a trade group for landlords, said Monday that many small landlords would go out of business if lawmakers approve amendments championed by what it called ‘radical’ groups including the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey and the Democratic Socialists of America.”

“‘While small landlords are literally watching their life savings evaporate, the state is failing to fulfill its obligation to get rental assistance to the people who need it,’ said David Brogan, executive director of the apartment association. ‘Now, some interest groups want to strip away the rights of small landlords to recover even a fraction of what is owed to them. They also want to institute statewide rent control, which would reduce property values, reduce capital improvements in apartment buildings, and drive up property taxes for homeowners.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “House hunters from the centre of Toronto all the way up to cottage country are running out of steam. Patrick Rocca, broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., noticed an abrupt change around the Victoria Day Weekend in May. The market has become spotty, he says, with some properties only drawing one or two offers on offer night and some none at all. ‘It’s definitely a sellers’ market but not like it was in February and March,’ he says. ‘The frenzy is not there.'”

“Another house in Leaside did not receive any bids on the night scheduled for reviewing offers. The following day, a buyer stepped up and the sellers accepted an offer below the asking price. ‘They were very reasonable,’ he says of the owners. ‘It’s very different when you get a seller who is reasonable and understands the market has spoken.'”

“Real estate agent Alexis Victor of Royal LePage Signature Realty noticed the same slowdown happening outside the city at exactly the same time. Ms. Victor is seeing less demand for cottages and year-round homes in areas near Orillia, Ont., Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching. ‘Prices are steady,’ she says. ‘We just don’t have those bloodthirsty buyers.'”

“Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Beata Caranci and senior economist James Orlando note that the amount that Canadians spend on their homes now makes up 32 per cent of total consumption, on average, over the past year. That marks the highest proportion of spending on housing in nearly 50 years. Ms. Caranci and Mr. Orlando expect the Bank of Canada will further reduce its Quantitative Easing program in the coming months and signal the start of the interest rate hiking cycle in 2022.”

The Daily Mail Australia. “In the year to May, property prices at Macquarie Park in Sydney’s north fell by 5.5 per cent, CoreLogic data showed. Macquarie Park would normally to be home to thousands of international students.
Apartment values and rents are falling despite a surge in Australian property prices as the border closure keeps out international students.”

“With Australia’s border closed to foreigners until at least mid-2022, a one-bedroom unit at Macquarie Park is available for as little as $510,000, a level well below Sydney’s median apartment price of $781,708. Juwai IQI, which markets real estate to wealthy Chinese investors, said now was a bad time to sell, even though investors landlords are losing thousands of dollars a year in rental income.”

“The group’s executive chairman Georg Chmiel said investors were better off holding on, despite the loss of rental income, until international students were allowed back into Australia again. ‘These assets have depressed values now, so it’s a poor time to sell,’ he said.”

“In greater Melbourne, the plunge was even more severe with apartment rents falling 11 per cent to $363. But in the city centre, rents have fallen 20.1 per cent, equating to a $5,000 a year downturn in rental income. SQM managing director Louis Christopher said the loss of international students had mainly affected Sydney and Melbourne’s inner-city apartment market, keeping vacancy rates at higher levels. ‘Rates for Melbourne and Sydney CBDs remain elevated with the loss of international student tenants combined with apartment oversupply,’ he said.”

Related Posts

Sad After Buying A House?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gu-rRbysWo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s30jnHIUlAE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJTBOijOxrc

This Post Has 190 Comments

  1. ‘Realtors have determined pricing, like looking at comparable sales to determine fair market value and pricing per square foot, have ‘almost been thrown out the window’

    ‘We price things now based on what we think people are willing to pay,’ Deane said. ‘Comps are skewed so low, that it doesn’t really make sense’

    There’s yer appraisal fraud.

      1. No mention of all the red flags surrounding that transaction. They thought they were getting a great deal and it turned out too good to be true. Boo hoo.

    3. “There’s yer appraisal fraud.”

      Its ubiquitous or near it.

      Somebodys got a problem. A whole bunch of somebodys.

    4. At the peak of the last bubble, the talking point mantra from real estate agents when confronted with overwhelming data that properties were overvalued based on every fundamental measure was that fundamentals didn’t apply to real estate and that real estate valuation was only based on what a person was willing to pay. Still waiting for this to be resurrected. Does anyone else remember this?

  2. ‘I’ve used all my savings’

    ‘While small landlords are literally watching their life savings evaporate’

    That’s some red hotcakes right there!

    1. Small landlords are kulaks. History records what Bolsheviks have in store for such “enemies of the people.” Forward, Soviet!

  3. ‘Even with the extensive damage, rancid smells and excessive profanity on the walls, Foster says she has received 16 written cash offers in the first 24 hours of the house being on the market’

    Who will be the lucky winnah?

    1. This has been sitting empty for over a year. Why didn’t the homeowner at least clean the place out? The profane graffiti on the wall is variations of “Evict me beeyotch.” Better check the sewer lines too. If the tenants employed Spray Paint Revenge, who knows what they did to the systems.

    2. I went to an open house in San Diego a couple of years ago and the.owners hadn’t even bothered to remove or paint over scuff marks that covered the walls or clean or even vacuum the carpet. Back then it was obvious we were back in bubble territory. This was the kind of thing you’d see in 2005-2006. They were putting up condos and houses so fast there wasn’t enough skilled labor to go around. The quality of new builds was terrible….nothing was flush, bad tile work, cheap materials. I think the biggest difference this time around is that the central planners have a much tighter grip on the news media. Back then at least there were a few stray voices in the main stream media pointing out the gigantic bubble. This time they just don’t allow anyone to question the main stream narrative. We have a much bigger bubble this time and far fewer prominent people warning about it which has helped allow it to eclipse the previous bubble and continue expanding beyond peoples’ wildest fantasies.

      1. Maybe the sign of the ultimate apex of this bubble will be when NAR, MSNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg team up with Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to block all internet and social media commentary from “dangerous Russia-colluding financial disinformation agents undermining confidence in the financial system”.

      2. We have a much bigger bubble this time and far fewer prominent people warning about it which has helped allow it to eclipse the previous bubble and continue expanding beyond peoples’ wildest fantasies.

        The silver lining is that millions of sheeple who trusted the MSM are going to be forever inoculated against that particular folly.

        1. It’s a long way off though. It will take educating an entire new generation to have critical thinking skills. I’m afraid this generation will never have that epiphany. There is an interesting interview with a Russian intelligence operative out there. He explains that when a certain generation has been sufficiently brainwashed by communist demoralization and re-acculturation programs, generally, it is not possible to reverse it. No matter how much factual information you provide them their brains are no longer capable of processing objective information.

  4. LOL. Ok. White devils everywhere. Enjoy Detroit 2.0

    I love Minneapolis, but I’ll be able to love Minneapolis more fully here,’ Mendez says. ‘I’m excited to not be completely surrounded by white people; I’m not the only brown person on my block, and that feels nice.

    2. ‘I’m excited to not be completely surrounded by brown people; I’m not the only white person on my block, and that feels nice.’

      Hate speech duck typing:

      Try switching the races mentioned in a statement and see if it sounds like something the MSM would be willing to print…

      1. Yep I cringed a bit when I read that line. I’m glad I don’t live near such an intolerant couple!

    4. Follow the link and see who she’s standing next to. Spoiler: Hope his white guilt is assuaged.

  5. ‘Juwai IQI, which markets real estate to wealthy Chinese investors, said now was a bad time to sell, even though investors landlords are losing thousands of dollars a year in rental income’

    That’s right wealthy Chinese investors, don’t give it away. Just keep bleeding cash like a stuck pig!

  6. ‘Amy Deane, a Realtor with Moreland Properties, said she had a buyer from California say that soon enough, Dripping Springs could be the new Orange County’

    Click! Yer just catching up with Vancouver Amy!

        1. “And the endless tales of buyer regret are most hilarious of all.”

          Here ya go …

          Millennials facing financial and physical regrets after buying homes
          https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/06/11/millennials-facing-financial-and-physical-regrets-after-buying-homes/7594826002/

          (a snip or two)

          According to a recent Bankrate survey, 64% of millennials aged 25 to 40 are facing regrets after buying a home compared with 33% of baby boomers aged 57 to 75. The survey found that the older the buyer, the less likely they were to have homebuyer regret.

          One factor that may explain this divide is desperation; younger homebuyers are more likely to rush into a purchase which can lead them to settle for properties that might not be to their liking.

          About 21% of homebuyers listed high maintenance costs as their biggest regret, and that number jumped to 26% among younger millennials aged 25 to 31. Maintenance refers to anything in the house that breaks and needs to be fixed or replaced.

          Mark Hamrick, senior economist analyst at Bankrate, explained that as home prices have been rising nationally, there’s a risk that people have less flexibility with their finances, and the only way to mitigate that is to avoid paying too much or have sufficient emergency savings.

  8. some properties only drawing one or two offers on offer night and some none at all…‘The frenzy is not there’

    There should never be a frenzy in housing markets.

    ‘Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Beata Caranci and senior economist James Orlando note that the amount that Canadians spend on their homes now makes up 32 per cent of total consumption, on average, over the past year. That marks the highest proportion of spending on housing in nearly 50 years. Ms. Caranci and Mr. Orlando expect the Bank of Canada will further reduce its Quantitative Easing program in the coming months and signal the start of the interest rate hiking cycle in 2022’

    Just when you have the maximum number of greater fools leveraged to the hilt, they pull the rug out. It’s like Lucy with the football. BTW, I know this is too long but the crater overfloweth.

      1. Imagine buying a shack or skybox in any Democrat-Bolshevik malgoverned urban wasteland.

    1. Silver & platinum too. I’ll happily exchange my Powell Bux for physical precious metals on any dip.

  13. What happens when max stimulus is reached and the RE market stabilizes at that new maximum stimulus (lowest possible interest rates + highest possible cash injections by the Fed)?

    Assumptions:
    1) There is a max stimulus (what would that look like?)
    2) The RE market would stabilize at that stimulus (would houses theoretically continue to appreciate by X percent annually in perpetuity at current stimulus levels?)

    2. Michael Burry of “The Big Short”

      https://twitter.com/michaeljburry/status/1405602913318178816:
      All hype/speculation is doing is drawing in retail before the mother of all crashes. #FOMO Parabolas don’t resolve sideways; When crypto falls from trillions, or meme stocks fall from tens of billions, #MainStreet losses will approach the size of countries. History ain’t changed.

  16. My $0.02:

    Don’t be mad at the Fed. It’s just the frontman. It’s acting in the interests of the government and Wall Street. Yellen wasn’t piping the tune Trump and Dimon and Moynihan were dancing to. Quite the opposite.

    It’s quite amazing, it’s two levels of obfuscation, two levels of the Wizard of Oz “Behind The Curtain”:
    • Most people don’t know about the Fed or its significance
    • And if they discover that, there is yet more observation to find out why the Fed acts as it does.

    1. “Don’t be mad at the Fed.”

      If you have to be mad at something be mad at yourself. Or, rather, decide to not play their stupid game and thus not be mad at all.

      Relax, and learn to love the bomb.

    3. Eight million foreclosure homes coming back on the market could go a long way toward solving the ongoing inventory shortage.

      1. Eight million foreclosure homes coming back on the market

        I suspect that programs will be implemented to mitigate that. That said, FB’s will still get schlonged, with back interest and lots of penalties and fees rolled into the mortgage via an express refi, and probably a bigger monthly nut.

        1. You’re probably right…they’ll figure out a way to punish those who stopped paying while maintaining low inventory and unaffordable prices. Someone on high is benefitting from the situation; otherwise the market would be allowed to run its course.

        2. I suspect that programs will be implemented to mitigate that.

          The “programs” ARE the problem. Get rid of these “programs” and people can afford shelter again. Nope, gotta make as many people as possible sleep on the sidewalk.

  19. If people weren’t so broke and destitute from loading up on mortgage debt, we wouldn’t hear the incessant whining about price fixing and market rigging which gets labeled “inflation”.

    Gold is cratering.

      1. The Fed didn’t “turn hawkish.” It made vague, empty statements about supposed future tightening. After years of Yellen the Felon’s “Lucy and the football” routing of teasing supposedly pending rate hikes, no one should take such “hawkish” jawboning at face value. Powell knows there’s no such thing as tapering a Ponzi.

        1. The Fed didn’t “turn hawkish.”

          Exactly. The whole narrative is a joke. The FED is going fully Weimar Insane while jawboning the world.

  20. Utah…

    The market seemed to be shifting/calming a little in May for prices above 800K. But since school is out, inventory is getting gobbled up again. Although inventory is rising, it’s getting bought up fast. So frustrating!

    Why does it seem like the mania momentum for prices moving higher almost daily and buyer’s buying will never end?

    I really wonder if the eviction ban ending June 30th will change anything at all? Maybe it opens up the rental market and more renters are searching and gobbling up rentals. Maybe evicted renters who saved their unpaid rent money enter the buyer’s pool causing even more competition to buy homes…

    I keep reading and hearing mortgage forebearance expires at different times for different banks, not all at once. Wells Fargo will foreclose by September (does the 90 day foreclosure clock start June 30th?). Mountain America bank will foreclose by January (I heard they have 700ish homes in default – not sure if the
    700 are all in Utah or just in the Salt Lake metro/Utah Valley area??). So maybe the foreclosures will be processed and paced out slowly over time and the impact won’t be noticeable?

    What are your predictions for what will/can happen after June 30th? Will inventory rise slightly or a lot? Will there be no noticeable change to the housing market? Will there be sudden shock and prices start heading down fast and hard or at the very least stop increasing?

    I still haven’t bought a house. We’ll see if it pays off eventually…

    1. “Although inventory is rising, it’s getting bought up fast. So frustrating!”

      It appears you are experiencing the emotion of FOMO. Keep in mind that others are also experiencing this emotion and many of them are succumbing to it.

      Also keep in mind that the weakest of these people who are succumbing to this emotion are the ones who are willing to pay the highest prices; These are the people you are competing against.

      The way to win at this game is to not play, at least not at this time.

      1. at least not at this time

        I’m waiting for the Fed to stop buying MBS, interest rates to rise and moratoriums to expire. When do we think those conditions will be met?

        1. “I’m waiting for the Fed to stop buying MBS, interest rates to rise and moratoriums to expire.”

          I think the moratoriums expiring are likely to occur before fed stops buying MBS and raises rates.

          If the bubble pops, it will be because they ran out of buyers willing to pay higher prices.

      2. Banker. You are right! Banker, you are an evil genius and so wise! You’re my favorite character around these parts. Thanks for your insights – great advice. The fear does creep in every single morning telling me I’m so screwed for not buying a home pre-covid. But then my faith, which must he stronger than my fear or else I would’ve bought already, tells me to snap out of it!! My faith tells me to carefully watch, be patient, and to do what I know. I have played this game before and I won. I moved back to Los Angeles in the fall of 2007 when prices were still high and my home in Washington wouldn’t sell and sat on the market for 9 months. This was a blessing because it prevented me from re-entering the Los Angeles market before it crashed and I learned all I could about these housing cycles (started reading this blog around that time). We watched the economy and housing collapse and didn’t buy until 2010. I bought an incredibly beautiful home after a 450K correction. I’m not waiting for a full on deep crater this time but buying right now is foolish.

        A lllllotttt of homes came on market yesterday in Utah and I watched alot of price drops and homes come back on market too. We’ll see how fast the new inventory gets digested or not…

    2. The Feds puppets at Blackrock and myriad other “institutions” will be buying anything that is foreclosed well before anyone in the public. Inventory will be tight cause it’s peddle to the metal…no going back else it will be Mad Max. The Boomers and their equity must be protected at any cost.

      1. ‘well before anyone in the public’

        That’s not how auctions work. If anything, it’s the opposite. The GSE’s, especially HUD, have broad non-investor only periods prior to opening it up to everyone else. Now do people get off their couch and work those, I don’t know. I’ve never seen statistics on it. If it’s in terrible shape, they may just throw it to the dogs.

        1. BTW, this is post foreclosure auctions I’m talking about. Courthouse steps is another system run by states. The problem with those is, you likely don’t get to see inside. You may have somebody living there. Cash only, no loans. If it’s all screwed up, you can’t get yer money back.

    3. Although inventory is rising, it’s getting bought up fast. So frustrating!

      Wasn’t there a story about corporate slum lords closing on 25% of sales in metro Houston?

      Maybe when the forbearances end, FB’s might choose to sell (at a hefty discount) to the corporate slumlords.

    3. “Soon I can build that shed for the wife to live in.”

      Will you be allowed conjugal visits?

      1. She lives with me in the house now and that doesn’t happen. So I doubt the shed will improve things.

      2. “Soon I can build that shed for the wife to live in.”

        The guys with some money usually build a shop with a small living area. I also know a really wealthy guy, and his man cave is no different except that it is a hanger at the airport, e.g., more toys! But yeah, no shortage of dead bedrooms.

    4. Something tells me the Plunge Protection Team doesn’t give fook about cratering lumber prices.

      Ditto for cratering cryptocurrency.

      1. Based on what we are witnessing currently, there’s some major pain in store for HODLers of speculative non-income producing assets when the Fed finally starts making good on its plans to normalize interest rates.

        Of course the Fed always has the option to keep pulling away the football, as they have done almost continuously for the past thirteen years.

  22. Why do they do it?
    It would be impossible to conduct an interview of these buyers without snickering.

  23. How’d clinging to your greedhead wish price work out for ya, Chandler?

    Matthew Perry Sells Los Angeles Penthouse for $21.6 Million After Years on the Market

    https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/matthew-perry-sells-los-angeles-penthouse-for-21-6-million-after-years-on-the-market-01623939393?mod=mw_latestnews

    “Friends” star Matthew Perry sold his Los Angeles penthouse, once the most expensive condominium for sale in the city, for $21.6 million on Monday. That’s about 38% less than the original asking price.

    The 9,290-square-foot “mansion in the sky” takes up the entire 40th floor of the Century building, a 42-story tower in Century City. It first appeared on the market in August 2019 for $35 million, Mansion Global reported at the time, when it was the priciest condo listed in Los Angeles.

    1. “The 9,290-square-foot “mansion in the sky” takes up the entire 40th floor of the Century building, a 42-story tower in Century City.”

      Likely has a concierge, a doorman and security.

      1. Children should be trained to throw rocks at them, and rewarded for each confirmed hit.

  25. Juneteenth needs to be a national holiday. More off days. Maybe a WFH day etc. For justice!

    1. I’m sure the members of Corporate America will be tripping over each other to offer it as a paid holiday.

      Interesting, though, that there are now two “black holidays” but no hispanic holidays.

          2. For Mexicans, at least, Lady of Guadalupe day trumps them all.

            Perhaps part of the problem with a Hispanic holiday is that different Hispanics celebrate different holidays. I’m sure non-Mexican Hispanics in the US are sick and tired of Mexican holidays being celebrated, while theirs are invisible.

          3. Dia de los Muertos is a very minor holiday in Mexico. Not even a paid Holiday. I think it gets a lot of fuss in the US because it somewhat resembles Halloween.

      2. Every day is a paid holiday, in the ghetto.

        Do federal employees really need anymore time off? Seriously?

        2. “Do federal employees really need anymore time off?”

          The office folks…probably not. But the gubmnt has plenty of jobs in the desert, mountains and the sea that require a full commitment, e.g., zero work-life balance. You gotta have a break to recount your kids, again.

      3. They probably will, but at the cost of replacing one of the others. That’s what happened to Good Friday….

    2. We already have too many Federal holidays as it is, and this just opens the door to extort even more days off. What about a Women’s Day? What about a LGBTQ+++ day? Or an Asians day? Now if you don’t vote for those, you’re officially an Ist Du Jour.

      We should just declare the first Tuesday in November as “Diversity Day” and make that a holiday. That would kill several birds with one stone.

      1. Bisexual Pacific Islander day? Really no end to it if you can use your imagination. No one should feel left out.

      2. “That would kill several birds with one stone.”

        Just don’t kill the donkeys. We need them to continue laboring under the heavy load of mortgage debt.

        1. “Just don’t kill the donkeys. We need them to continue laboring under the heavy load of mortgage debt.”

          This puke just signed up for one of my Dotted Line Specials and is now happily furnishing the house that he pledged most of his yet-to-be-earned income to paying off …

          https://images.app.goo.gl/bSefc3t9exj9BkgP7

      3. “What about a LGBTQ+++ day? Or an Asians day?”

        I got one….

        LGBTQ Insults Asians Day

        U.S. Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe Faces Potential Cancelation After Racist Old Tweet Emerges

        by Paul Joseph Watson
        June 17th 2021, 6:44 am

        A debate about the double standards of cancel culture is taking place after a 2011 tweet was uncovered in which U.S. female soccer star Megan Rapinoe commented, “u look asian with those closed eyes!”

        Rapinoe, who has since become a darling of woke progressives off the back of her campaign for equal pay, is now one of the new faces of Victoria’s Secret, who have done away with their ‘Angels’ models and replaced them with the likes of Rapinoe, “plus size models,” and a transgender Brazilian.

        Although Rapinoe is sure to delete the tweet later today, here it is in its full glory.

        Megan Rapinoe
        @mPinoe
        @tasha_kai00 u look asian with those closed eyes!
        6:31 PM · May 19, 2011

        https://www.infowars.com/posts/u-s-soccer-star-megan-rapinoe-faces-potential-cancelation-after-racist-old-tweet-emerges/

          1. Meanwhile, JK Rowling didn’t get a pass. But JK was sacrificed early on. Since then, it appears the left has lowered the passing grade for their self-purity tests, or else there would be no left left.

          2. Dawson denied her thought crime and groveled. Rowling didn’t. She’s rich enough to not care.

          3. it appears the left has lowered the passing grade for their self-purity tests, or else there would be no left left

            It’s said that if the left didn’t have a double standard it wouldn’t have any standards at all.

        2. Live by the petard, die by the petard…

          Should be interesting to see how the new marketing campaign affects Vicki’s. My guess is that the consumer pattern has shifted from men doing the buying, to 18-30 Millenials (at the time) doing the buying, to box-wine women doing the buying. That’s consistent with Vicki’s pattern of shifting from classy to skank to woke.

          1. VS started out pretty skanky. I remember the catalogs WAY BACK when. It cleaned things up with store fronts to target us GenXers. The Wexner-Epstein revelations hurt the brand. Going woke should finish it off.

          2. “The Wexner-Epstein revelations hurt the brand. Going woke should finish it off.”

            Agreed.

        3. And to bring it back to housing, a comment from the infowars links:
          Talk to someone who has had to deal with a Chinese slumlord. Chinese buyers account for roughly 25 percent of total foreign investment in U.S. residential real estate. Chinese investment in California real estate is a driving force behind high housing prices in the state. Vancouver is already called Hongcouver because the Chinese have priced Canadians out of the housing market. Eventually everyone will have a Chinese landlord.

          1. Hongcouver

            That nickname is at least two decades old. My mom lived there in the mid to late 1990s.

      4. I am currently drafting a new teaching syllabus that will highlight the invaluable contributions my fellow Yemeni lesbians and I made as George Washington’s chief military advisors during the American Revolution.

      1. The emergency meeting to discuss myocarditis in kids may be postponed because of this.

  26. The Fed’s mild hint that they may raise rates at some point a few years out seems to have upset gold HODLers. What’s the fuss?

      1. I’m ecstatic. I welcome any and all opportunities to exchange my debauched, soon-to-be-worthless Yellen Bux for real money.

        1. The premiums are ludicrous. Why would somebody buy something when you automatically lose 30% walking out of the shop?

  27. Good day Dave. I was worried about the hookers in the Hamptons this summer
    Hedge fund legend David Tepper thinks the Federal Reserve did a good job, showing that policymakers are not asleep at the wheel.

    The Appaloosa chief, known for bold calls and strong returns, told CNBC’s Scott Wapner on Thursday that despite the Fed’s plan to move up its interest rate hike timetable, the stock market remains alright.

    “I think the stock market is still fine for now,” Tepper told Wapner.

    1. Jawboning about mythical pending rate hikes, and actually hiking, are two very different things.

  30. I’m excited to not be completely surrounded by white people;

    microwave-car-rocket-car- ice

    1. LOL@ paying the electric bill for summer air conditioning in a climate that was never inhabitable for humanoids.

    1. No worries. All it will take is another positive tweet from Musk and it’s all good.

      1. Tweetcoin is a rich man’s joke. All the billionaires are sitting in crypto right now, trying to pump it higher. A lot of them were the ones who bought at the peak.

    2. The Fed’s surprise announcement sure left a lot of blood in the cryptocurrency space…

      1. The Financial Times
        Markets Briefing Equities
        Dollar boosted by Fed’s shift in tone
        Gains extend to second day after US central bank hints at earlier interest rate rises
        The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday evening that most officials expected a rate increase in 2023, up from a previous projection of 2024
        Naomi Rovnick in London, Colby Smith in New York and Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong an hour ago

        The dollar notched its largest two-day gain of the year after US central bank officials brought forward the anticipated timing of the Federal Reserve’s first post-pandemic interest rate rise.

        The dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of other big currencies, jumped 0.87 per cent on Thursday after gaining almost 0.6 per cent in the previous session. The euro lost 0.77 per cent against the dollar, taking it to $1.19 and taking the US currency’s gain over its eurozone counterpart to 1.8 per cent over two trading sessions.

        The Fed said on Wednesday that most of its officials expected a rate rise in 2023, against earlier predictions of 2024, as the US economy recovered strongly from the pandemic and consumer price inflation hit an annual rate of 5 per cent in May. Fed chair Jay Powell also said officials were “talking about talking about” reducing the Fed’s $120bn-a-month asset purchases, which have boosted financial markets since March 2020.
        …

        1. ‘…officials were “talking about talking about” reducing the Fed’s $120bn-a-month asset purchases, which have boosted financial markets since March 2020.’

          Seems like they are walking ever so lightly on eggs…

          1. It’s strange to consider how much asset prices are inflated by ongoing huge monthly stimulus injections from the Fed. I frankly have a hard time imagining how they will ever be able to unwind them without tipping over the apple cart.

  36. The cat is out of the bag now, the scientists weren’t being scientific and everything said by the MSM was a bald face lie to make Trump look bad:
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/06/top-virologists-admit-lying-american-public-months-likely-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-didnt-want-associated-president-trump/

    You can’t trust anything that doctors and scientists have said or are now saying about Covid-19 or the Pandemic. The MSM, politicians, leftists and Never Trumpers have been pushing fake news, science, data and public health policy based on lies and falsified data. Everything written or said about the pandemic has been colored by these lies and WHO and the Silly Cone Valley tycoons have been pushing this misinformation and silencing anyone who challenged the BIG LIE.

    The BIG LIE includes treatments and therapies for Covid-19 and the risks and benefits of the vaccines. Governments have restricted or taken away basic civil rights based on this LIE and seized unlimited power over their citizens.

    Who knows how many lives were lost because of this BIG LIE, lost because it was more important to attack Trump than it was to save human life. This was mass murder on a global scale.

    President Trump was correct and everyone else was wrong.

  38. ‘Several election workers in Fulton County, Georgia, are scheduled to be deposed in the coming days in a lawsuit that alleges thousands of fraudulent ballots were scanned in Atlanta on election night in 2020.’

    ‘Ruby Freeman, her daughter Wandrea Moss, Caryn Ficklin, and Keisha Dixon were served with notices to appear for depositions in the case, according to court records.’

    ‘Freeman and Moss were two of the workers in the absentee ballot counting room at State Farm Arena, when ballots were processed for some time on Nov. 3, 2020, with no observers, including no state election monitor.’

    ‘Freeman is scheduled to be deposed on June 11. She was advised to bring a thumb drive containing images of all communications she made between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, regarding the presidential election, according to a court document obtained by The Epoch Times. The communications include messages sent by cellphones, through email, on Snapchat, and over Facebook.’

    ‘She was also told to bring all electronic devices she utilized during the same timeframe. Moss, who was given similar orders, is slated to appear on June 10.’

    ‘Petitioners in the case asserted in December 2020 that election workers failed to comply with state laws governing the treatment of absentee ballots. That failure “created two classes that had two different standards” when it came to mail-in ballots, they alleged.’

    ‘A county official told news outlets and people in a ballot counting room at roughly 11 p.m. on election night that counting was done for the evening, but workers soon resumed processing ballots. Republican observers said they left because of the announcement and a state election monitor was absent for 82 minutes, according to Gabriel Sterling, an official with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office.’

    ‘Sterling later said there was “managerial sloppiness” and “chain of custody” issues in the county, although county officials insisted nothing untoward happened.’

    ‘Petitioners received low-resolution images of ballots in the case, but have more recently sought images that are at a quality of 600 dots per inch or higher. Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero agreed to the request last month, but postponed the taking of new images after county agencies filed motions to dismiss the case.’

    ‘A hearing on the motions will take place on June 21.’

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/election-workers-set-to-be-deposed-in-georgia-ballot-case_3850941.html

    1. The 2020 election was stolen.

      Joe Biden is not, and never will be, the legitimately elected president of the United States. Unelected Deep State globalists who stole the election will hang for treason.

      There are over eighty million of us, you are not going to get away with this. Treason = DEATH 🙂

    2. ‘Freeman is scheduled to be deposed on June 11. She was advised to bring a thumb drive containing images of all communications she made between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, regarding the presidential election, according to a court document obtained by The Epoch Times.

      Ruby just became a prime candidate for an Arkanciding.

        1. If her deposition actually took place on June 11, then it’s too late for Arkancide, except as revenge. I’m surprised Ghislane is still with us.

  39. What makes the BIG LIE even worse is that all of the science journals were promoting the LIE and they shut down and silenced anybody that disagreed with the LIE. Same goes for the medical journals and organizations. All of the major science and medical organizations promoted the BIG LIE because most of their members also wanted to get Trump at any cost.

    Science and Medicine have burned their bridges and they have no credibility left. If they were in on the BIG LIE, what else are they telling lies about? Treatments? Vaccines? The size and true nature of the Covid-19 “Pandemic”.

    WHO, the biggest player in the BIG LIE, should be shut down and closed forever. WHO and the UN were more interested in protecting China than preventing Covid-19 from spreading and killing people.

    2. And now that Tedros is begging for vaccines for a pandemic that HE created. He needs to be put in stocks and paraded around the world to face the families.

      I’m ashamed to call myself a scientist, but I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been thrown out of the job for telling the truth in science.

  40. “……..what else are they telling lies about ?”

    Everything !
    But, because of this epic Medical Fraud, to achieve political objectives , the harm and destruction these Entities caused will be their undoing.

  41. Oh dear…Portland is going to need more unarmed social workers to reason with BLM-Antifa violent insurrectionists who can riot with impunity thanks to Soros-installed DAs and fellow commies (D) in City Hall. Cops punished for trying to restore order in Democrat-malgoverned cities are going to be resigning en masse and heading for the diminishing number of remaining red states and communities.

    Entire Portland Police Rapid Response Team Resigns After Officer Indicted for Breaking Up Antifa Riot

    https://humanevents.com/2021/06/17/entire-portland-police-rapid-response-team-resigns-after-officer-indicted-for-breaking-up-antifa-riot/

    Following the criminal indictment of a fellow officer, the entire Portland Police Rapid Response Team made the unanimous decision to resign, according to police sources via Portland news outlet KXL.

    Cory Budworth, 40, is the first officer in the county to be prosecuted for using force during a violent protest.

    The Rapid Response Team is a group of volunteer officers who respond to civil disobedience, demonstrations and riots. At the time of the incident, Officer Budworth was assigned to the Rapid Response Team for crowd control.

  42. The ambulance-chasing St. Louis lawyer and former Democrat Party major donor who got a first-hand taste of what his party has been promoting and enabling has been stripped of his 2nd Amendment right to self-defense. Sorry, pal, but this is karma at its finest.

    St. Louis couple charged over confronting Black Lives Matter protesters plead guilty, forfeit guns

    https://www.rt.com/usa/526890-stlouis-couple-trial-protesters-guns/

    Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis, Missouri couple filmed brandishing a rifle and a handgun at angry protesters that broke into their gated community last June, have agreed to pay fines and forfeit their weapons.

    On Thursday, Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was given the maximum fine of $2,000. Her husband Mark pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and accepted the $750 fine. The handgun and the rifle that were seized from them will be destroyed, local media reported.

  43. Scientist Admits Lab Leak Theory Rejected Because Fear of Association with Trump, “Racists”

    by Adan Salazar
    June 17th 2021, 5:59 pm

    In an interview with NBC News, postdoctoral researcher at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Alina Chan acknowledged there was political reluctance in the scientific community to sign on to the lab leak theory.

    “At the time, it was scarier to be associated with Trump and to become a tool for racists, so people didn’t want to publicly call for an investigation into lab origins,” Chan, who is now calling for an investigation into whether Covid was leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, told NBC.

    Despite pushback from the media and members of his own administration, Trump early on during the coronavirus pandemic last year suggested he had reason to believe the virus originated in a Chinese lab.

    https://www.infowars.com/

  45. Tucker Carlson had a guest, Lt Col. Mathew Lohmeier who did a nice job explaining the difference between equality and equity as is being introduced into the military.

    Equality = equal oppurtunity

    Equity = enforced outcome

    Jun 15, 2021
    RELEASE 21-080

    NASA Launches Mission Equity, Seeks Public Input to Broaden Access

    NASA is launching Mission Equity, a comprehensive effort to assess expansion and modification of agency programs, procurements, grants, and policies, and examine what potential barriers and challenges exist for communities that are historically underrepresented and underserved.

    “NASA is a 21st century agency with 22nd century goals. To be successful, it’s critical that NASA takes a comprehensive approach to address the challenges to equity we see today,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The agency’s new Mission Equity is a bold and necessary challenge for NASA to ensure our programs are accessible to all Americans and, especially, those living in historically underserved communities across the country. Because when NASA opens doors to talent previously left untapped, the universe is the limit.”

    NASA issued Tuesday a request for information (RFI), entitled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities in NASA Programs, Contracts and Grants. To this RFI, the agency is seeking public feedback as it conducts a thorough review of its programs, practices, and policies to assess:

    Potential barriers that underserved and underrepresented communities and individuals may face in agency procurement, contract, and grant opportunities.

    Whether new policies, regulations, or guidance may be necessary to advance equity and opportunities in agency actions and programs.
    How agency resources and tools can assist in enhancing equity, including advancing environmental justice.

    https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-launches-mission-equity-seeks-public-input-to-broaden-access

    2. NASA will continue to pack in the dead weight, while contracting out the real work to SpaceX and others.

      1. real work

        Would that be blowing up Starships or its position in the Musk RICO empire?

          4. The Musk RICO empire behaves like and is connected to drug cartels.

            He’s just another billionaire who got his money through fraud and graft. It would be very difficult to find an honest one. Musk, Soros, Gates, Buffett, Bezos, Cuckerberg – they’re all fraudsters.

          6. Lest I forget, he’s also indebted to the CCP for the money to build the Shanghai factory. What do you think the CCP might want in return from a man with a US national security clearance?

        2. FWIW. the Falcon 9 is the new gold standard in rocket boosters. At the moment that Falcon and the Crew Dragon capsule are the only American rides to the ISS.

          The Starship SN15 did stick the landing. There is talk of the first Starship being launched into orbit later this year. Meanwhile, Boeing’s capsule still hasn’t carried anyone into orbit. And the SLS booster still isn’t ready to launch (at a cost of over $1B per launch).

          Tesla is a BS company. SpaceX is successful, they can undercut anyone, because their boosters are reusable.

          2. Give me billions in free money and I can make neat sh!t, too.

            Our history is full of examples of orgs that got tons of free money and produced absolutely nothing. For example, the Space Launch System is 10 years going and its likely that Starship will get into orbit first.

            And now all the other rocket makers are scrambling to catch up with SpaceX, as no one else has a reusable rocket that can deliver payloads into orbit. Did I mention that Boeing still can’t launch astronauts into orbit?

          3. SpaceX’s successes are most likely attributable to Gwynne Shotwell. Tesla’s turnover screams volumes as to Musk’s management skills.

          4. SpaceX’s successes are most likely attributable to Gwynne Shotwell. Tesla’s turnover screams volumes as to Musk’s management skills.

            He’s just another narcissist who gets off on playing a game of “feel my power” in the workplace.

          5. SpaceX’s successes are most likely attributable to Gwynne Shotwell.

            Definitely. Musk isn’t a modern day Edison.

  46. Depressing observation: I can’t tell you how many comments I read, not here obviously, citing Netflix “documentaries” as some authoritative or reliable source.

  47. Not as happy as those where you couldn’t afford.

    ‘I’m excited to not be completely surrounded by white people; I’m not the only brown person on my block, and that feels nice.’”

  48. How loudly do you think the housing market debt donkeys will bray upon learning that cratering commodities prices bode ill for future housing prices, as rising interest rates have a similar effect on all bubble assets?

    Better purchase some strong earplugs…

    1. Mad Money
      Jim Cramer says the market is signaling that commodity inflation is ‘pretty much over’
      Published Thu, Jun 17 2021 7:14 PM EDT
      Updated Thu, Jun 17 2021 8:07 PM EDT
      Kevin Stankiewicz
      Key Points
      – The stock market is indicating that commodity inflation fears are fading, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday.
      – “Forget transitory, the market’s saying it’s pretty much over,” the “Mad Money” host said.
      – He pointed to declines in commodity-related companies and bond market moves.

      CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday that markets appear to be growing less worried about raging price increases in a range of commodities, from metals to lumber.

      “I’ve got good news for you: The stock market, which is pretty correct on these kind of matters, is saying that commodity inflation has already peaked,” the “Mad Money” host said. “Forget transitory, the market’s saying it’s pretty much over.”
      …

    2. The Financial Times
      Equities
      Reflation trades pummelled after Fed’s hawkish shift
      Commodities, energy and value stocks hit after US central bank brings forward dates for raising rates
      The US Federal Reserve
      Investors might be starting to question the US federal Reserve’s commitment to its new more flexible inflation targeting regime
      Robin Wigglesworth an hour ago

      The “reflation trade” that has dominated financial markets since the emergence of coronavirus vaccines last year has been pummelled after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly signalled a shift in its stance on inflation.

      Investors had rushed to buy securities that might benefit from faster inflation, betting that the combination of exceptionally easy monetary and fiscal policy and a global economy emerging from its Covid-19 lockdown would cause prices to spike.

      However, after inflation data came in unexpectedly strong in recent months the Fed earlier this week moved forward its guidance on when it might start raising interest rates, and signalled that it would soon start discussing when it will taper its $120bn-a-month bond purchases.

      The unexpected central bank pivot has knocked many of the most popular reflation trades, such as smaller stocks, gold and commodity prices, and buoyed other assets that have languished lately.

      “The surprise shift more hawkish from the Fed on risk management grounds Wednesday reverberated through financial markets globally Thursday, with violent moves across and within asset markets as investors liquidated inflation hedges and faded reflation trades,” said Krishna Guha, vice-chair of Evercore ISI.

      Guha said that the liquidation of leveraged reflation trades made it hard to draw firm conclusions on the market’s views of the Fed’s shift as they might amplify the market moves, but noted that investors might be starting to question the central bank’s commitment to its new more flexible inflation targeting regime.

      Natural resources suffered the biggest hit from the unwind of reflation trades. Bloomberg’s commodity price index tumbled 3.6 per cent on Thursday, its biggest one-day drop in more than a year, with WTI oil falling 1.5 per cent.

      So-called US value stocks — often cheaper, out-of-favour companies that are more sensitive to the pace of economic growth — fell another 1.3 per cent on Thursday to extend the initial drop they suffered on Wednesday, the day of the Fed’s announcement. MSCI’s index of global value stocks had already fallen 1.2 per cent on Thursday.

      The Russell 2000 index of smaller US companies declined 1.1 per cent — the biggest reversal in over a month — while the price of a troy ounce of gold slipped to a two-month low of $1,773 on Thursday, before paring the decline slightly on Friday.
      …

  49. Amateur investors took the stock market by storm not via Wall Street but via Reddit. Many of them are playing a losing game. Should they be saved from themselves?
    Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    GameStop. Dogecoin. Now AMC. Do meme traders need to be protected from themselves?
    “If you’re trading like it’s a game, you’re probably going to lose.”
    By Emily Stewart
    Jun 16, 2021, 8:30am EDT

    It’s hard to argue that everything going on in financial markets lately is particularly smart. The question is, how silly should we let things get?

    Meme stocks like GameStop are still swinging wildly as they go in and out of fashion on Reddit. AMC recently told people buying its stock that they’re probably going to lose all their money. People are piling into cryptocurrencies based on memes and learning some hard lessons in volatility, much of which is driven by Elon Musk’s tweets. The NFT bubble might have already popped because it turns out spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a GIF might not be the soundest investment.

    Amid the chaos, there’s been quite a bit of hand-wringing among regulators, lawmakers, and finger-waggers on CNBC over what to do about it. Many investors are trading like it’s a game, and one that they are likely to lose — some knowingly, some not.

    “Is there ever going to be a way to stop people from buying things at stupid prices? No,” said Andrew Park, senior policy analyst at Americans for Financial Reform. “There’s a key difference between people doing stupid things with their money versus being in positions where they’re either being exploited or manipulated.”

    There’s a fine line between keeping people from taking too big of risks and locking them out of opportunities, between letting people do what they want with their money and keeping them from being swindled. How much to protect investors is a thorny question to answer — especially when sometimes they need to be protected from themselves, or they don’t want the protections at all. When I talk to day traders, the sentiment is often that they want to be able to take more risks, not fewer.
    …

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