thehousingbubble@gmail.com
Blog

That Model May Not Be Working

A report from the Daily Mail. “In his three-minute call, Vishal Garg CEO of mortgage lender Better.com Vishal Garg, said that the ‘market has changed’ – meaning savage cuts to the $7 billion company’s workforce were needed to avert disaster. Two others said that Garg warned next year would be a ‘bloodbath.’ Garg told Fortune his ‘bloodbath’ comment had been taken out of context and was a broader reference to the mortgage market.”

The New York Post. “Garg added just half an hour after the firings that he was trying to create ‘Better 2.0,’ with a ‘leaner, meaner, hungrier workforce.’ The company had hired the ‘wrong people’ and had lost $100 million the previous quarter, he went on.”

The Real Deal. “iBuyers were all the rage in the third quarter, accounting for a record share of the housing market. But the new heights for selling and buying came at a price. Homeowners sold 27,244 homes totaling $10.6 billion through iBuying services, according to Zillow’s report for the third quarter, which evaluated the four largest: Opendoor, Zillow Offers, Offerpad and RedfinNow.”

“The median price of homes sold to an iBuyer was $376,000 in the third quarter, a record for the sector and a big jump from $333,000 in the second quarter. Selling to an iBuyer may have also been more lucrative than going the traditional route, as the median price of third-quarter iBuyer purchases was 13.9 percent higher than for the market overall.”

“While iBuyers were spending a lot, they weren’t necessarily making a lot. The median markup was 1.8 percent, down almost 5 percentage points from the 6.7 percent median markup in the second quarter. In eight of the 36 markets analyzed by Zillow, iBuyers sold a typical purchased home at a loss; Austin saw the biggest median loss at 7.7 percent.”

From Arizona Family. “In 2022, we might see less action from instant buyers, more commonly referred to as iBuyers. According to Zillow Research, homeowners in the Phoenix area sold almost $1.5 billion worth of homes to iBuyers last quarter, representing about 12% of all homes sold in the area. But one of the major players, Zillow Offers, is getting out of the business, telling investors it is too risky. ‘I think what it sends is a signal to the marketplace, and to the iBuyers in general, that that model may not be working,’ said Phoenix real estate agent Trevor Halpern. As of early December, Zillow said it had offloaded about 50% of the homes it bought.”

The Colorado Sun. “Aspen’s city council this week stopped issuing not just short-term rental permits, but permits for all home construction. A long line of fiery residents blasted the five-member council’s plan Wednesday night. Kim Raymond, an Aspen architect, said ‘many people will be devastated by this.'”

The Los Angeles Times in California. “An Encino real estate broker was sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison for her role in a family fraud ring that stole $18 million in emergency pandemic loans largely through fake businesses in the San Fernando Valley. Tamara Dadyan, 42, is one of eight convicted conspirators in the scam that was led by her brother-in-law, Richard Ayvazyan. Ayvazyan and his wife, who bought a $3.25 million house in Tarzana with proceeds from the loan scam, were convicted at a trial in June, but fled after slicing off their ankle monitoring bracelets.”

“Both Dadyan and her husband are awaiting trial on unrelated state mortgage fraud charges.”

From News.com.au in Australia. “‘It takes eight years to save for a deposit in Sydney and seven years in Melbourne,’ AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said last week. ‘This is now squeezing out first home buyers yet again (who have seen their share of new housing finance fall from 25 per cent to 18 per cent since December) and increasingly existing owners looking to trade up are being squeezed out as well. The puff is coming out of the property market,’ he said.'”

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “Home buyers are showing signs of fatigue in the face of sky-high property prices, with the median auction price for houses falling slightly last month in Sydney and Melbourne, figures show. ‘The sentiment of a buyer is changing, they’re more wary of not overpaying for a home,’ Domain chief of research and economics Nicola Powell said. ‘There’s this light at the end of the tunnel for buyers – they know if they miss out on this home they don’t need to go gung-ho on a single property at auction … The next opportunity is around the corner.'”

The Daily Mail. “Embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande was officially declared in default for the first time, as it admitted it won’t be able to pay back its debts. Fitch Ratings downgraded the property developer on Thursday night to a restricted default rating after it failed to make repayments on bond debt. The company was given a month-long grace period to meet repayments – to the tune of $A260million – but the credit assessor said Evergrande didn’t respond to requests for confirmation of payment.”

“Bloomberg journalist Srinivasan Sivabalan Tweeted on Thursday that the nation’s real estate debt crisis has ‘breached a red line.’ ‘Evergrande has defaulted on its dollar-denominated debt,’ Mr Sivabalan wrote. ‘About 95% of Evergrande’s >$300 billion debt is local. The default on $19.2 of dollar bonds sucks foreigners into China’s problems. Makes clear no bailout is coming.'”

From Bloomberg. “When China Evergrande Group finally acknowledged the need for a debt restructuring last week, the embattled property giant pledged to ‘actively engage’ with offshore creditors to create an overhaul plan. But the reality is that both Evergrande and its bondholders are likely to have little control over what happens next.”

“That power lies with China’s Communist Party, including authorities from Evergrande’s home province of Guangdong. Officials from the province dominate a risk-management committee unveiled by the developer this week to guide its overhaul. That’s unlikely to involve a bailout, with People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang saying Thursday that Evergrande will be dealt with in a market-oriented way.”

“Regulators have made it clear they have no appetite for an Evergrande rescue. At the same time, they’re now deeply involved in management of the company. Guangdong said last week it would dispatch a team to Evergrande to ensure ‘normal’ operations. The company has $19.2 billion in offshore dollar bonds outstanding, the most among Chinese developers. Another risk for creditors is the firm’s guarantees on related-party debts, including private placement bonds with limited disclosure. How much bargaining power do offshore bondholders have?”

“Not much. Some offshore bondholders see little use in pressing their case in Chinese courts, given the government’s heavy involvement in the overhaul. The fact that this is a cross-border restructuring with debt-issuing units listed in multiple jurisdictions creates another challenge for bondholders trying to get organized and show a united front. Evergrande’s overseas obligations also include bonds with keepwell provisions. These are essentially a gentleman’s agreement that often involves a pledge to keep an offshore issuer solvent, which may not be legally recognized in this restructuring.”

Related Posts
This Post Has 99 Comments

  1. ‘Garg told Fortune his ‘bloodbath’ comment had been taken out of context and was a broader reference to the mortgage market…the company …had lost $100 million the previous quarter’

    Every once in a while we get to connect some dots. Recall the recent articles about lenders pounding on appraisers and deals falling apart as a result? Something is happening in the mortgage market!

    1. From another article: “Better.com has pushed fees and commissions down to zero, which has helped it do billions of dollars in mortgage originations, refinancings and title and property insurance sales.”

      So during one of the craziest quarters ever they can lose $100 million because they don’t have loan origination fees or commissions. They’ll “make it up on volume” a la Zillow.

      My only question is, how do I get in on that sweet IPO?

      1. Chances are good that the mortgage originators make their big bucks “on the backside”.

        They charge their dumb-assed puke customers slightly higher interest rates than the going rates and these higher rates increases the values of the loans. These increased values are then cashed out and pocketed when the loans are sold off to third parties.

    1. ** ” . . lock the doors & call authorities”

      say what? the hell w/that: I’m getting my NES pistol outta storage & practicing some Duck Hunt moves!

  3. ‘in default for the first time, as it admitted it won’t be able to pay back its debts. Fitch Ratings downgraded the property developer on Thursday night to a restricted default rating after it failed to make repayments on bond debt’

    So now I can see the little game going on behind “formal” defaults. It’s when the rating agencies throw in the towel.

    ‘The company was given a month-long grace period to meet repayments – to the tune of $A260million – but the credit assessor said Evergrande didn’t respond to requests for confirmation of payment’

    Boss, no one is answering the phone, what do we do?

    ‘the nation’s real estate debt crisis has ‘breached a red line.’ ‘Evergrande has defaulted on its dollar-denominated debt,’ Mr Sivabalan wrote. ‘About 95% of Evergrande’s >$300 billion debt is local. The default on $19.2 of dollar bonds sucks foreigners into China’s problems. Makes clear no bailout is coming’

    Translation = we got schlonged.

      1. I predict safe haven bank runs as those sly & crafty suit-wearing-Chicoms-in-name-only rush to pull funds outta reach of Xi’s electronic henchmen clawbacks.

    2. The Chinese govt bodies work behind the scene – and they will try to bring it into a little safter landing – but might not work.
      From Bloomberg. Policy makers have in recent weeks cut lenders’ reserve requirements, signaled an easing of real estate curbs and rolled out measures to ensure higher-rated developers retain access to funding

        1. Whenever I think of whether to boycott the Olympics, I think back to that iconic photograph of Jesse Owens accepting his gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Munich. Owens has his hand over his heart facing the American flag, meanwhile being flanked by perfect white Germans (or so they thought) doing the you-know-what salute. If even one athlete has that mindset, I say we send them all to compete.

          1. OK correction, I just checked the photograph. Jesse is saluting the flag, not with his hand over his heart. No matter. Somebody needs to make a giant poster of that photo and hang it on Colin Kaepernick’s house.

  5. “…The default on $19.2 of dollar bonds sucks foreigners into China’s problems….”

    Might as well include Better, Zillow, and all the other IBuyer paper empires.

    Good riddance.

  6. ‘Evergrande’s overseas obligations also include bonds with keepwell provisions. These are essentially a gentleman’s agreement that often involves a pledge to keep an offshore issuer solvent, which may not be legally recognized in this restructuring’

    I passed all of the CPA exam, but I’d say financial accounting was strongest. So when things like this come up, I wonder what the category would be?

    Long term liabilities:

    Gentleman’s Agreements: $0*

    * estimate based on fook the gringos.

    1. It’s pretty clear who the mark is in this bagholder identification process.

      And it also seems clear that China is going to have a more challenging time attracting foreign capital, going forward. Once burned, twice shy.

  9. ‘A long line of fiery residents blasted the five-member council’s plan Wednesday night…’many people will be devastated by this’

    Stamp those little feets!

    1. Sounds like they were told it was a “can’t lose/housing prices only go up ‘investment’ and paid too much.

      They forgot that houses are rapidly depreciating assets.

      Corona Del Mar, CA Housing Prices Crater 24% YOY Los Angeles Area Housing Market Hobbles And Banks Wobble

      https://www.movoto.com/corona-del-mar-ca/market-trends/

      As a noted economist advised, “Mortgage debt is the most toxic of all debt. Avoid it at all cost.”

    2. “A moratorium, passed unanimously by emergency ordinance Wednesday night after two meetings in two days, goes beyond suspending new short-term rentals with an unprecedented pause in all residential construction or renovation that expands the size of a home.”

      To everyone cheering on these boards that are taking away the right to turn your own property into a short-term rental, it’s clearly a slippery slope when you’re dealing with totalitarians. No more add-ons to existing houses either. What’s next? They issue a decree that if your house is bigger than 2000 square feet, you need to accommodate a low-income worker in your home?

      I’m really confused why almost everyone here is completely against totalitarianism when it comes to health care, but cheer on these socialists who are taking away property rights. It’s pretty short sighted.

      1. We have been over this a few thousand times and it takes a while to type out, but for the benefit of people who haven’t been here long:

        A major effort in this specific topic is identifying speculators. It’s my opinion the vast majority of STR’s are gambling. I once lived on an island that was 80% or more STR. It was a resort town. Everybody knew the laws and if you bought/rent something you knew it was going to be all night partying in the season.

        I also grew up in a town with no zoning. It was all deed restrictions and STR wouldn’t fly cuz the deeds said how you behaved. You knew that going in.

        Last decade this first came up with craigslist. I was living in Sedona AZ and it was a huge issue. It was eventually resolved by these STR walking away en masse. As did the 2nd shack owners there, who were also gambling. Airbox owners in Toronto/Australia who are cash flow negative are similarly gambling on to the moon Alice! and will get their head handed to them.

        Nobody is talking about low income yadda so that’s not even an issue. As for property rights, what about the rights of people who have to live next to these things? In Arizona we got a guvnah (who has a date with a rope) who passed a “law” saying cities can’t ban STR. That’s cuz these organized STR dogs hand out suitcases of money to bribe. That’s been well documented here. So the guberment overreach/corruption is on the STR side, not those who oppose them.

        Lastly, these speculators make the bubble worse and skip town as soon as it’s apparent the gravy train ain’t coming. So fook em. The end.

        1. “Nobody is talking about low income yadda so that’s not even an issue.”

          That is what’s driving these city councils. The article mentions it several times. Further, the people voting to restrict property rights I guarantee believe in global warming and “equity” and those issues will become the next crises that they use to further restrict property rights. The article addresses that as well.

          “As for property rights, what about the rights of people who have to live next to these things?”

          There are plenty of laws (noise ordinances, nuisance laws, etc) to deal with the ones that become a problem. In addition STR licenses can be revoked in most jurisdictions after a few complaints. In most areas if they are revoked you either lose it for good or for at least a couple years.

          Cheering on normal market forces is fine and I agree they are gambling and will be slaughtered. Cheering on progressive city councils is just dumb.

        2. Quick question Ben, are property rights grandfathered in? For example, let’s say I buy a house in an area with loose covenants and set up a driveway auto shop. If a town or county changes covenants to ban driveway auto shops, is my property grandfathered in? Or do I have to close up the shop?
          (my guess is that covenants can be changed at any time and apply to everybody, no grandfathering.)

          1. I would guess it varies. The deed restriction area I grew up in now has a HOA forced on everyone. There’s no fee but they got busybodies telling you what you can’t do. If there’s a slippery slope it’s zoning. There’s a racket if there ever was one.

            The Aspen situation is interesting. I’ve got another boo-hoo for tomorrow where they discuss the traffic. Aspen is small with these ridge clutching roads winding in and out. All these STR gotta get cleaned every day, so in come the workers, out go the workers and I’m sure it’s a big mess. The problem is going down this road in the first place. UHS love it, anything that drives up prices and takes inventory off the market they are all for. It inevitably starts to come apart and everybody gets butt-hurt.

          2. I’ve been in that weekday traffic jam from Glenwood Springs to Aspen on CO Route 82.

            Lots of Spanish speaking primos making long long long commutes to Aspen…

          3. The answer is “no,” oxide. Those sorts of businesses are generally operating under what are called “Special Use Permits” which the county can revoke at any time they see fit.

        1. Buy a hotel in the commercial zone.

          STR profits derive from the evasion of regulations on the hospitality industry.

      3. STRs are a perversion of “residential”.
        There is nothing residential about a commercial hotel business.

        1. Imagine if this wannabe Airbnb mogul bought a house, then his neighbors turned their property into a nasty, stinking poultry farm. Or an illegal auto wrecking junkyard. There’s a reason for commercial, industrial and residential zoning. This guy doesn’t seem to understand it.

  10. Heartfelt thanks, DJT, for denying this corrupt, evil harridan a four year term to complete the globalist agenda already far advanced thanks to her most chaste husband and the empty suit Goldman Sachs puppet Barak Obama. We would’ve been much further down the road to a Democrat-Bolshevik totalitarian police state had the globalist successfully installed this complicit hag.

    Not bitter then, Hillary? Clinton breaks down in TEARS as she gives cringeworthy reading of the 2016 victory speech she WOULD have given if she’d beaten Trump to become the first female US President

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10288375/Hillary-Clinton-gets-tearful-reads-speech-given-won-election.html

    Hillary Clinton has for the first time revealed the victory speech she would have given had she won in 2016, and admitted she did not even bother to write a concession speech.

    Democrats were blindsided by former President Trump’s win that year and Clinton spent much time blaming Russian interference for her loss.

    1. What i saw was a month before the election both were drawing 15-25,000 live views on you tube….then Trump started to increase up to well over 100,00, his last speech was i think over 150,000…. just before the election while hill was still at 20,000

      Same thing happened in 2020 his live views were even much higher then 2016 , and brandon couldnt get as much as hill did………

    2. “Clinton breaks down in TEARS…”

      Hillary as Secretary of State totally dropped the ball on Libya, and her chances as America’s president and free world’s leader were finished.

  11. Oh dear…panic sounds like such a frightful word. I fear the 1.5 million Chinese baggies who put down huge deposits on skyboxes will be screwed, blued, & tattooed, with much wailing & lamentation amidst the massed stamping of little feet.

    Debt-crippled Chinese property giant Evergrande defaults for the first time, sparking panic in Beijing as authorities rush to protect country’s economy

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10292447/Debt-crippled-Chinese-property-giant-Evergrande-defaults-time.html

    Debt-crippled Chinese property giant Evergrande has defaulted on its loans, sparking a rush to protect the country’s economy from the fallout and amid fears it could have a knock-on effect on the global economy.

    Evergrande has been struggling to meet its loan commitments since the Chinese government launched a crackdown earlier this year to curb rampant borrowing and consumer speculation in the property sector.

      2. They have yield curve control, they have Taper, and they have interest rate hikes.

        One analyst humorously compared the stock market to those inflatable holiday yard decorations. Santa can’t hold air for long, so he’s are equipped with a fan to constantly blow new air into him. Otherwise he would quickly deflate.

        Similarly, the market can’t hold its value just on selling goods and services alone (valuations); it needs the “fan” of the Fed not-QE to keep it inflated. IIUC, yield curve control is like switching from a fan to a person physically blowing up Santa* — inflated but barely. Taper is like shutting the fan off entirely and hoping that growth is faster than deflation. Raising interest rates is like shutting off the fan *and* blowing a hole. All three options eventually result in Santa biting the dust, just at different rates.

        The only other option is to keep inflating and fail the currency.

        * nope nope don’t go there. 🤐

        1. Seems like taper and yield curve control are conjoined at the hip, and rate hikes hit Wall street where it hurts back in 2018. Somebody has to feel pain, and main street has already had their share.

    3. And here I was getting close to building. Suppose I should go back to the architect and ask for a “tiny house” instead, so that I can afford it!

  14. ** “In his three-minute call, Vishal Garg CEO of mortgage lender Better.com Vishal Garg, said that the ‘market has changed’ – meaning savage cuts to the $7 billion company’s workforce were needed to avert disaster.

    haha, savage cuts indeed. err, how much of YOUR salary have you “cut”, mr Garg? after all, we’re allllll in this togetherrrrrrr right? Right!? RIGHT?!?!
    damn, I forgot coffee is for closers.
    and holding the gun.

    1. The cuts were exclusive to the diversity department and to those who failed to produce. Those who produced were not cut.
      Do business on zoom. Get fired on Zoom. What’s the problem? No one complains about getting promotions or or raises on Zoom. Leftie double standard?

  15. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are poison.

    I’m flying next week, will be stuck in a middle seat, and I’m worried about people with a recent “booster” shot infecting me with their CCP Flu.

    What if the pilot and co-pilot both have heart attacks and the plane falls out of the sky?

    P.S. happy twenty-two month anniversary of “two weeks to flatten the curve”

      1. As for the airplane crashing, that is always a risk. But the odds are pretty low that both pilots will have heart attacks at the same time. It’s more likely they will make a dumb mistake or there will be a mechanical failure.

    2. What if the pilot and co-pilot both have heart attacks and the plane falls out of the sky?

      I guess you could just drive where you’re going, thought that could take some time depending on how far away your destination is.

      1. 1,500 miles.

        I did this whole mask on a plane security theater thing back in February, it’s such a joke.

        Btw I’m very pleased with the number of non-masked people at my local King Soopers. The bedwetting Westword even published an article about it…

    3. ** ” if both pilots die?”

      hell, I’d man the controls myself . . have a little fun before landing . . (gotta INVERT. INVERT! )
      . . it’s all pretty much automated anyway.
      if you veer off course n’ such you get audible/visual warnings beepity boping you to annoyance anyway as control clears airspace for your mayday.
      just another flight sim. probably 10 others passengers could bring it in easy peasy.
      relaaaax amigo. you got this.

      1. Isn’t the flight deck door locked? It would make for some interesting drama to have the pilot open the door, stagger out and collapse. Then some kid stands up and says: “No worries, I’ve landed an A320 plenty on times on my XBox!”

        I did see a video where a guy with a very gussied up home flight simulator was allowed to try to “fly” a corporate simulator, with a pilot supervising him. He needed some coaching, but he was able to take off, fly for a bit, and land it. He said it was quite harder than the Xbox. It was also under ideal conditions.

        1. 2018 Horizon Air Q400 incident

          On August 10, 2018, a Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 was stolen from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (Sea–Tac) in SeaTac, Washington. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Richard Russell, was a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience.

          Near the end of the flight, the aircraft was seen performing a barrel roll over Puget Sound, recovering a mere ten feet (three meters) over the water.[20] A veteran pilot said the maneuver “seemed pretty well executed, without either stalling or pulling the wings off.”

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Horizon_Air_Q400_incident

        2. “No worries, I’ve landed an A320 plenty on times on my XBox!”

          Didn’t car racing teams recruit people based on their video game prowess? (I forget what I watched that mentioned that)

    1. It’s still a subsidy, which increases demand for college and makes the price go up. The stratospheric cost of attending college will remain as long as there are subsidies and non dischargeable loans.

      It will be painful for schools. They will have to fire useless staff and sell assets to pay off their bills. Refusing to do so will only result in many of them failing anyway. Johnson and Wales U closed their Denver campus, leaving students in the lurch.

    1. Drugs and gangs. The victim had a brand new BMW but is unemployed.
      His Daddy said he was preparing to go to college. Canonized ….

    1. Years ago up in northern Idaho I commented on the unreal low wages in the area. Someone in the group said the wages were even lower next door in Montana.

      1. Not sure about now, but years ago Montana had the 2nd lowest wages in the entire US next to Mississippi. The real estate prices there are delusional. $500,000 houses with household income in the $20ks at one point.

        1. It’s really, really cold there. And there is virtually unlimited additional land available on which to build additional housing. I can safely predict that high prices there will not hold up to the test of time.

  19. Rules for thee, not for me. This isn’t about health, it’s about tyrannical rule:

    Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin, one of the world’s youngest elected leaders, apologized this week after facing backlash for spending a night out in Helsinki after she was exposed to COVID-19.

    1. facing backlash for spending a night out in Helsinki

      What kind of prime minister goes clubbing? Was she looking for a quick hookup?

      Finland is being run by children.

    2. Finland is over 70% vaxxed, meaning most adults are vaxxed. Yet their infection rate is at an all time high (if their government isn’t lying).

      Ms. Marin allegedly left her phone at home when she went clubbing. The prime minister went on what was probably a drunken hook up fest and was incommunicado, after being exposed to the virus. A virus which she undoubtedly uses to oppress her people.

      And I thought Brandon was irresponsible.

    3. Clearly the Overton Window has moved left as inequality has continued its unfair expansion. However, self interest prevailing, the progressive movement’s foundation has already exposed its fatal cracks.

      1. What inequality?
        Due process and the right to a jury trial?
        That is all equality means. It is a legal document.
        Other than that, take it God.

    1. Do you think anybody will ask the Vice President of the United States about her “an attempted modern day lynching” comment? You know, the one where she jumped to conclusions about this so-called “systemic racism?”

  21. “SPANAWAY, Wash. — A homeowner opened fire at two suspected burglars Thursday morning in Spanaway, killing one of the men. The deceased suspect was identified as a 24-year-old male.”

    There’s still hope for the world.

    1. If the male were white it would be in capitals and bold faced type. Apparently it was other than white and/or other than legal.

      1. Andrew Branca is THE law of self-defense expert. His books and courses may be of interest to HBBers.

        https://lawofselfdefense.com/product/defense-of-property/:

        We all have the legal right to use physical force to defend our property from thieves and intruders. Easy enough, right? Sadly, wrong. The class of property, the type of force, and the surrounding circumstances make the difference between a justifiable use of force on the one hand and decades in prison on the other.

        Attorney Branca provides you with the knowledge you must have in order to defend your property, your vehicle, your business, and even your home with the confidence that your use-of-force is well within the legal boundaries.

        Even better, Andrew teaches you all of this in a casual and easy-to-understand manner, translating all the complicated legalese into plain English so that you can make better informed, more confident, more decisive decisions in defense of your property.

        1. His books and courses may be of interest to HBBers.

          And is book is free* (just pay shipping and handling — $8.00 I recall)

      2. “When police arrived at the home they found a 24-year-old man deceased on the homeowner’s front yard from a gunshot wound.”

        Unfavorable fact.

          1. I had a problem with a guy once. He parked his car opposite my house and watched. I expected a confrontation. Never mind the back story.

            My friend and neighbor, the Sherriff, suggested that I make sure he was inside the house, with a knife in his hand, before I called the state police. Call him for help with this if needed.

            Just to calm anyone, I never needed to make that call.

  23. Is pooh-ba’s China truly a pillar of Democracy in the modern world order?

    Black = white
    Up = down
    Fair = foul
    …

    1. The Financial Times
      US-China relations
      Beijing derides Joe Biden’s summit and insists China is a great democracy
      Communist party official accuses US of weaponising democracy and inciting division
      People’s Liberation Army soldiers stand in front of a giant screen proejcting President Xi Jinping at a ceremony marking the 70th founding anniversary of People’s Republic of China
      The Chinese Communist party’s backers argue that western democratic systems, with an emphasis on institutional checks and balances, often fail their citizens © Jason Lee/Reuters
      Tom Mitchell in Singapore
      2 hours ago

      The Chinese government has launched a bitter public relations campaign targeting Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy, arguing that the Communist nation also deserves recognition as one of the world’s great democracies.

      In the run-up to the US president’s two-day summit, which opened in Washington on Thursday, Xi Jinping’s administration issued a flurry of white papers and seminars extolling the advantages of China’s political system and criticising America for trying to impose its democratic model on the rest of the world.

      Wang Wenbin, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, accused the US of trying to “weaponise democracy, by openly convening this so-called Summit for Democracy to incite division and confrontation for geopolitical gains”.
      …

    1. The Financial Times
      2 hours ago 17:39
      Asian stocks fall as traders return to more cautious outlook
      William Langley in Hong Kong

      Asia Pacific stocks fell on Friday morning with dips in Australia, Japan and South Korea, while futures in Hong Kong pointed downwards.

      The drops come as traders return to a more cautious outlook after a global rally boosted by hopes that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would not cause as much economic damage as originally feared.

      Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and Japan’s Topix both dipped as much as 0.5 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi fell as much as 1 per cent.

      Hang Seng index futures were down about 0.5 per cent ahead of the open.

      The moves followed a global decline on Thursday, as markets reacted to new restrictions aimed at tackling the spread of the new variant. The technology focused Nasdaq Composite index closed 1.7 per cent lower in the US, while Wall Street’s blue-chip S&P 500 index slipped 0.7 per cent.

      Analysts at Westpac Bank said that global risk appetite had “softened” on Thursday as traders held a “continuing focus on the spread of the Omicron variant”.
      …

Comments are closed.