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Serious Problems That May Have Been Covered Up By The Huge Abundance Of Liquidity

A weekend topic starting with the Vancouver Sun in Canada. “‘The real-estate development business is very much about market timing,’ said Arny Wise, who spent his career planning and developing scores of housing projects in Toronto and Vancouver. ‘They want to time it so their development goes to market when the market is good. They don’t want to sell into a crappy market,’ said Wise, who does not condemn developers’ practice of aiming to sell houses when prices are riding an inflationary wave. Like other businesses, he said, developers are out to earn profits.”

“But since politicians in B.C. and Ontario are maintaining that building a massive amount of new housing supply is the solution to lowering astronomical prices, Vancouver-based Wise said they need to recognize reality — ‘There is no reason to expect developers to accomplish a social good unless (politicians) force them to.'”

“University of Sydney professor Cameron Murray found that developers don’t necessarily build more housing faster after politicians soften rules and hike zoning density to encourage them to do so. ‘The amount of zoned supply in a region is unrelated to the rate of new housing supply,’ Murray writes. ‘Housing developers routinely delay housing production to capitalize on market cycles.'”

“The Ontario premier is backing a task-force recommendation to build more than 1.5 million homes in the next decade. But a Bank of Montreal economist, Robert Kavcic, said the target is impossible and ill-conceived, in part because ‘most of this supply will come to completion after demand has rolled over and the millennial-led demographic boom has peaked, saturating the market for a long, long time.'”

“Both Kavcic and Wise believe the overpriced housing bubbles of Toronto and Vancouver are due for a crash.”

The Corner EU. “The Spanish system lends itself to great confusion. It is therefore difficult to diagnose. This situation has been dragging on since the recent real estate bubble and the poor handling of the ensuing crisis. Perhaps as a consequence of the doctrine of deregulation. But this situation continues to be favoured by the existence of an ineffective regulatory framework, based on the elusive principle that it is not the actions of the present that should count, but the forecasts of the future.”

“The short-term economic and political costs of turbulence were thus avoided by giving priority to maintaining a semblance of stability, without taking into account that problems that are not addressed when they arise tend to grow faster than possible improvements in the context. The current regulatory capital concept collapses the concept of equity, the basic indicator for measuring insolvency, and considers capital as a non-content component such as goodwill and deferred tax credits.”

“Moreover, the regulations continue to base the valuation of assets on legal default and not on the debtor’s ability to pay, which is no longer checked by supervisors. All in all, the information provided by institutions in terms of capital and results may be debatable or highly questionable.”

“But perhaps the most worrying consequence of this framework is that a large part of the bad assets may not be provisioned and may remain on banks’ balance sheets or be shifted to investee special purpose vehicles. As a result, in addition to the possible losses that they entail, they give rise to new current losses. Because they do not generate income but their financing does entail costs.”

“As a result, the accounts of some banks show an NPL ratio of 4% or 5%, which does not reflect the real quality of the assets, thus leading to highly insufficient provisions. They also show excellent capital ratios, which are misleading. The best analyst could be wrong, because if he analysed bad information he came to superficial or wrong conclusions. As the computer scientists say ‘garbage in, garbage out’. We have the recent example of the fictitious accounts declared by the failed savings banks. And, of course, the drama of Banco Popular, whose resolution revealed a loss greater than its capital, when just a month earlier its own accounts showed a highly positive net worth.”

“Regardless of the uniqueness of the practices described here, one wonders whether they can be understood in the economic context of our country. Because we are still recovering from the severe slump caused by the pandemic and many companies and sectors are facing serious problems that may have been covered up by the ‘life-saving’ measures and the huge abundance of liquidity, problems that may emerge when these measures expire and liquidity on the markets is significantly reduced.”

From Radio New Zealand. “The Reserve Bank’s quarter percentage point rise in the official cash rate may have put an end to the one ‘saving grace’ in the housing market. CoreLogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said while the OCR would ‘definitely’ keep moving up, the housing market itself was in slowdown. ‘If the OCR goes up another two or three percentage points that could easily pass through to mortgage rates of pushing 6 percent.'”

“Although many people were insulated by fixed rates for now, homeowners should prepare to re-fix at a higher interest rate, Davidson said. ‘People with mortgages need to remember the bank has already tested them at a higher service rate anyway and often that service rate is actually well above 6 percent. It’s not panic stations yet but people obviously need to be prepared for higher mortgage costs.'”

“About half of loans were due to be re-financed over the next 12 months, he said. ‘Lots of people are fixed and that gives them some insulation but there’s also a lot of loans rolling off this year so on one hand, yes you’re fixed, but that fixed period doesn’t last very long.'”

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “Property price growth in Melbourne and Sydney has stalled, as affordability constraints and higher fixed-interest rate mortgage rates start to bite and crimp demand. Westpac’s economists, in a report released this week entitled Calm before the storm, said the property price boom is showing clear signs of slowing. They are expecting a ‘broad-based correction phase’ to begin later this year and into 2023 and 2024, as interest rates rise.”

“‘Deteriorating affordability has continued to weigh on buyer sentiment but interest-rate considerations have yet to really impact,’ the economists said. ‘With affordability already stretched in many markets, rate rises will have a direct impact on the borrowing capacity of buyers and their ability and willingness to sustain high prices.'”

From Barron’s. “Daryl Fairweather is the chief economist at Redfin. Imagine an island ruled by a benevolent queen. When a famine threatens the island’s prosperity, the queen uses her power to save the economy. It works. But before the islanders can live happily ever after, the queen must decide what to do with her power, which she has pledged to use without favor on behalf of all her subjects. How can the queen let go of her reins on the economy while minimizing the harm done to her citizens during the transition?”

“This fable can help us understand the Fed’s predicament when it comes to unwinding the $2.66 trillion mortgage-backed securities portfolio that it accumulated while saving the housing market from collapse in 2009 and preventing a potential collapse in 2020. Like the queen in our fable, the Fed faces difficult choices about how to withdraw its extraordinary intervention in the economy. Housing prices have spiked during the pandemic, increasing 30% in just two years.”

“The Fed is in a similar predicament to the queen, and has to decide whom to favor, the borrower or the banker. The Fed would like to get out of the MBS market. It only intervened in 2020 to ensure the housing market would remain steady, but now demand for homes is far outpacing  supply. Investment bankers have made it clear that they want the Fed to stop buying MBS and get inflation under control.”

“Like the island’s banker, investment bankers are concerned there is too much money chasing unprofitable investments. If true, this could cause runaway inflation or asset bubbles. However, as the Fed winds down its MBS purchases and raises the federal funds rate, every potential homeowner who wasn’t able to lock in a low monthly mortgage payment on a home will have missed their chance.”

“During the pandemic it has largely been the wealthy who have benefited from cheap debt. It is unfortunate that just as many Americans are getting back on their feet, the Fed will be making homeownership less attainable, but it can at least soften the blow by moving slowly. I am certain the Fed, like the queen, wishes it could remain neutral, but that’s impossible now.”

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This Post Has 174 Comments

  1. The Vancouver article and the EU paper are worth reading in full. Daryls thing is long winded. I don’t know why a queen was necessary. Just make the point.

    1. A queen is an agent of government who answers to noone except for the dictates of her own conscience. I get the metaphor in the case of the unelected, independent Fed.

    2. “The Fed is in a similar predicament to the queen, and has to decide whom to favor, the borrower or the banker. The Fed would like to get out of the MBS market. It only intervened in 2020 to ensure the housing market would remain steady, but now demand for homes is far outpacing supply. Investment bankers have made it clear that they want the Fed to stop buying MBS and get inflation under control.”

      Spoken like it’s a tough choice for the Fed to make haha…bet you dollars to doughnuts Main St. gets the shaft and Wall St. gets the life raft.

      2. These are “cover your asz” soundbites from the FED. They are sociopath liars. Everything they are doing is intentional. Notice how, when stocks post a massive loss, they show up almost same day to “save the day” and print trillions to backstop the wealthy, but when they themselves run house prices up to where the poor are now living on the street, they do nothing but peddle a few sound bites? These people should be executed.

      3. bet you dollars to doughnuts Main St. gets the shaft and Wall St. gets the life raft

        You’ve seen this movie before.

    3. Agreed. My comment in the Barron’s forum on Daryl’s article:

      “Cute analogy but disingenuous. Daryl knows higher interest rates actually benefit first-time homebuyers in the long run. The idea low mortgage rates make overall housing cost more affordable is patently false, but it’s the “toe the line” narrative Zillow and (Daryl’s own) Redfin regurgitate to induce home buying fervor. In reality, low mortgage rates make mortgages more affordable BRIEFLY until the market catches on and profit taking/speculation distort fundamentals. During the GFC this took a few years to unfold, but happened within a few short months of COVID lockdown. Now, demand is artificially inflated as Daryl herself pointed out in the fable with wealthy villagers buying boats to be left at the dock. No one really knows how much of the bidding wars, etc. are a result of investors elbowing out primary home seekers. Higher mortgage rates reduce artificial demand and create a balanced market.

      What does it matter to a first time homebuyer if they save $350/month on mortgage lending costs but end up paying an extra $450/month in principal because the property’s asking price went up $110K over 18 months? They’re going to be spending more money regardless. MOREOVER, they have no future “rate cushion,” or the ability to refi at a lower interest rate a few years down the road. Many buyers over the past 2 years bought in at rock bottom rates at the TOP of their budgets. They better hope their annual raise beats inflation — it’s gonna be tough to refi when they got in at 2.75%.”

  2. ‘Moreover, the regulations continue to base the valuation of assets on legal default and not on the debtor’s ability to pay, which is no longer checked by supervisors’

    This fast and loose with the accounting rules has gone on for too long. Remember when the US guberment twisted the financial accounting standards board to change the rules for banks holding foreclosures? Notice they never reinstated them when the red hotness arrived?

    There was a reason those rules were put in place: namely the S&L debacle. Which took out a bunch of banks too.

    1. And remember how Bernanke said the emergency powers the FED was granted by Congress to engage in QE was temporary and would be ended within a year? And here we are 15 years later, and we have QE on steroids? Follow the money. It ALL flowed to the top.

  3. ‘the target is impossible and ill-conceived, in part because ‘most of this supply will come to completion after demand has rolled over and the millennial-led demographic boom has peaked, saturating the market for a long, long time’

    This is a very frank piece for the Sun. Basically all this talk about building out of a bubble is horsesh$t and everybody knows it. But keeping the bubble going is not in question. Which is why the real issues: guberment backed loans and too much money printing, are never addressed.

    1. “But keeping the bubble going is not in question.”

      The question on my mind is at what point will the government-sponsored bubbles in the West reach the point of no return which the one in China has, where the government walks away from it out of necessity?

      1. Usually this occurs when the first banks start going under. For this to happen you need some large bankruptcies down stream. They are coming. They tend to appear to occur suddenly out of nowhere but you can actually see them coming once you know the signs to look for. Raising rates at the end of the cycle rapidly speeds up the process but the rot is already there festering. Zillow is a great example of the rot. At some point soon they will get cut off and then they will lock the doors and announce that due to market forces that no one could have seen coming, they are slithering away to spend more time with their families. I fully expect at least one large blowout to blame Putin. It was those damn Russians, they hate capitalism!

        I think the next month is going to bring a lot of this into better focus as the deterioration accelerates. We are probably a year or so from banks going under but there will be a big set of various firms going under soon that leads up to the main event. By the time we get there it will be obvious to everyone that they overpaid. The real deals are 4-7 years out as the process works itself out. There is a point where saturation occurs and there will be lists of decent properties without any interest in large areas of the country. This is where cash is king. However, in San Diego, the window will be very short and probably wont fall nearly as far as you would like. It would take an exodus there to do it and currently anyone who leaves is immediately replaced by a foreign national. They will be teaming up to bid against you. You will need your ducks in a row and a solid plan of action to hit the trough in S.D.

        2. @IPFreely – loved your book “Yellow River.” Rivaled only by Claude Ball’s classic: “Night of the Tiger.” What does having one’s ducks in a row mean to you?

          I ask as somebody who would like to buy a house in San Diego. I’m a little bit nervous of the potential shade imma catch for admitting that on this blog…but willing to hear the feedback from anybody who has San Diego (inland North County in particular) insights.

          1. I’ve been looking for a single-story home with pool in Poway for at least 2 years. Inventory has been extremely low and prices insanely high. I’m sitting on a sizeable amount of cash from the September 2020 sale of my deceased mother’s West of I-5 Encinitas home while waiting for the Fed to raise rates and stop buying MBSs. My patience is admittedly wearing thin.

          2. @redpilled redhead sorry for your loss. I’m a former ginger (bald as the day is long now) and my mom died suddenly in 2013.

            Like you, my wife and I are also sitting on a big mamma jamma down payment…we are looking in Fallbrook/Bonsall for a three bedroom w/ office and workshop.

            My wife wants to just do it, market be damned…. Every once in a while I wonder if it isn’t that bad of an idea considering the impending global financial calamity. Like, if this pile of money becomes worthless for all intents and purposes for whatever reason…at least I’ve got shelter for the fam?

          3. Every once in a while I wonder if it isn’t that bad of an idea considering the impending global financial calamity.

            I have those thoughts too but lack of suitable inventory keeps them in check. Patience is a virtue so they say.

          4. Wow a fan! Ducks in a row for San Diego is much harder than elsewhere. It is unlikely that you will have the washout there with a wide bottom like other markets. The foreclosures will get snapped up fast in S.D. but there will still be inventory that gets impaired and discounted. Fallbrook will have some gems, it always does. You have to wait through the first waves of it though to get to the real deals. Overall though, if you can break yourself of the SoCal illusion, you can take your cash elsewhere and live like a king. There are Fallbrooks all over Appalachia that cost a fraction of what you are going to pay there and you can leave the rat race. For S.D. the reality is you’re up against a lot of pent up demand not only from your neighbors but also the waves of immigrants who team up to bid against you. From an apples to oranges standpoint, SoCal is not a value proposition unless you have a lot of money. Unfortunately, a dip in prices there isn’t really going to change that.

          5. There are Fallbrooks all over Appalachia that cost a fraction of what you are going to pay there and you can leave the rat race.

            And not have to worry about wild fires.

          6. I’m willing to pay to live in SoCal. Plus my wife and I are both co-Parenting with exes so that factors in.

            Ive got a good job (veterinary medical sales,) a pile of money to put down and I can’t “legitimately” buy a modest home. I mean, I can get a loan – but I can’t rationalize it to be a smart play to dump our life savings into down payment and closing costs & be locked into a “house poor” lifestyle.

            Look, I don’t care about getting *the ultimate deal* I don’t have to be the smartest financial wiz in any room or the most accomplished negotiator. I want a happy wife and a home we can “SoCal reasonably” afford.

            I’m willing to learn how to do that, and do the work needed to make that happen….but I’m not immune to the realtors (are liars) propaganda and I do sometimes worry that the chance may never come.

            Sorry for the vent/dump/life story, but my family and friends are 99% dismissive of my apprehension and feed me typical real estate lines and reassurances and I don’t have any other outlet. Just letting it out…

          9. “Plus my wife and I are both co-Parenting with exes so that factors in.”

            They’ve gotcha by the short hairs!

  4. ‘People with mortgages need to remember the bank has already tested them at a higher service rate anyway and often that service rate is actually well above 6 percent’

    You know Kelvin, we were reading yesterday that K-das stress test was garbage.

    ‘It’s not panic stations yet’

    I agree. I’m not feeling the panic at all.

    1. I agree. I’m not feeling the panic at all.

      I sense a quaver in your voice, Ben. You’re among friends…it’s okay to share your feelings of panic with us. We won’t judge.

    1. While Ukraine’s president is out on the streets wearing body armor and rallying resistance to the Russian invasion, Brandon and Harris are still wearing their stupid masks. What a farce.

        1. Citizen! We must secure Ukraine’s borders, not our own! Our permanent Democrat supermajority isn’t going to happen without some policy assistance, you know.

      3. It’s not their war..what do you expect Kamala or Biden to do?

        Wish they hadn’t goad Putin into it….but it’s too late now.

        1. Now any and all inflation will be blamed on Putin, instead of the Fed & Brandon’s economic mismanagement.

          1. May be, all said and done, Putin’s Russia is nothing but Globalists’ puppet…

            Kinda like Yin to Western yang

          1. Word is he is not in Kiev. Which would be par for the course for any globalist puppet. Just like how Trudeau left town to avoid the truckers.

      4. Brandon and Harris are still wearing their stupid masks.
        at least Brandon isn’t hiding in his basement anymore. Gotta give him that.

      5. Check your sources, Boo.

        Zelensky’s armored-up photo op was from two years ago.

        I’m disappointed in you buying this narrative.

        Putin is a bad guy, no doubt, but they’re wagging the dog real hard.

  7. The Comrades of Proven Worth (D) at our NEA indoctrination mills are pushing perversity on younger and younger children, in line with globalist dictates to destroy the last vestiges of America’s moral fiber. If you oppose such sickness at school board meetings, the DNC’s FBI Chekists will probably want a word with you.

    Outrage as primary school invites drag queen Dolly Trolley to dance in front of nine-year-olds

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10555483/Outrage-primary-school-invites-drag-queen-Dolly-Trolley-dance-nine-year-olds.html

    1. at our NEA indoctrination mills

      FWIW, this was in the UK. That said, I’m sure the NEA is taking notes.

      1. All “educators” in the former western democracies are on the same page when it comes to globalist agenda-pushing.

  8. “But since politicians in B.C. and Ontario are maintaining that building a massive amount of new housing supply is the solution to lowering astronomical prices, Vancouver-based Wise said they need to recognize reality — ‘There is no reason to expect developers to accomplish a social good unless (politicians) force them to.’”

    Globalist Quisling Trudeau is set to import record numbers of migrants from places where they will have no objections to rule by decree, as long as the entitlements keep rolling in.

  9. It’s not panic stations yet but people obviously need to be prepared for higher mortgage costs.’”

    But Shirley wages will outpace inflation in the booming globalist looting colonies of Australia & New Zealand.

    Oh, wait….

  10. Like the queen in our fable, the Fed faces difficult choices about how to withdraw its extraordinary intervention in the economy.

    While it’s not a stretch to imagine Jerome Powell as a queen of sort, a benevolent one he is not. My pimp hand raises of its own volition every time I read such dreck by Real Journalist REIC shills.

  11. “During the pandemic it has largely been the wealthy who have benefited from cheap debt. It is unfortunate that just as many Americans are getting back on their feet, the Fed will be making homeownership less attainable, but it can at least soften the blow by moving slowly.

    The Fed since its clandestine 1913 establishment on Jekyll Island, SC, has had just one true “mandate”: concentrating all wealth and power in the hands of a corrupt and venal financier oligarchy. Most Americans under 35 will never have a hope in hell of ever owning their own home free and clear as long as this criminal private banking cartel controls our money issuance.

    1. The Fed since its clandestine 1913 establishment on Jekyll Island, SC, has had just one true “mandate”: concentrating all wealth and power in the hands of a corrupt and venal financier oligarchy. Most Americans under 35 will never have a hope in hell of ever owning their own home free and clear as long as this criminal private banking cartel controls our money issuance.

      I’m told us under-35s just need to quit ordering coffee and ditch a smartphone (which I guess we buy weekly?) and the savings just pile up!

        1. ‘They’ll need to take out a 70-year mortgage, too.’

          all interest payments the first 40 years though…..

      2. quit ordering coffee and ditch a smartphone (which I guess we buy weekly?)

        Finally somebody pointed this out. I’m so tired of the “gotta have the newest iPhone” crap. These young folks are well aware that no amount of saving on small things will get them close to a reasonable down payment. Example: if they forgo the coffee and keep the phone for ~3 years, they’ll save a grand total of, what, a thousand bucks in a year. It’s not worth bothering, so they indulge where they can.

        I can’t say I blame them. However, I don’t forgive them their sexi-trux. That IS a down payment.

        1. what, a thousand bucks in a year. It’s not worth bothering

          It is well worth it to spend less than you earn. The first line of savings is an emergency fund for the unexpected. Not worth bothering?

        2. “… they’ll save a grand total of, what, a thousand bucks in a year. It’s not worth bothering, so they indulge where they can.”

          I like your thinking. Please share these ideas with all your friends.

          😁

        3. These young folks are well aware that no amount of saving on small things will get them close to a reasonable down payment.

          I used to go to a drive-thru coffee shack every morning up until 15 years ago. The gals working there were super hot and friendly, and like any young guy at the time I liked the attention they paid me and the drink was great, too. There were a couple days I even went there in the afternoon. But one day I did the math and it was just too much to continue. I disappeared and never went back.

          I bought an espresso maker and began making my own coffee drink every morning. Not only was the quality just as good (after I tweaked a few things), but I started enjoying the fact that I didn’t have to wait in line every morning.

          By eliminating that one habit long ago, I have had $39,000 extra dollars that didn’t go to that coffee shack. My ground coffee costs me less than $15 per month. Let’s call it $30 per month to include the energy to boil the water, and throw in $500 for the espresso machine (which I no longer even use, instead preferring cowboy coffee in a pan). That left me with $33,000 extra dollars over the past 15 years just from eliminating a retail coffee drink. That’s real money, in my book.

          1. Now do the math on cable/satellite and your cell phone. It’s jaw dropping how much we become conditioned to spend on nothing over a decade+. Most of these costs can be hacked down to almost nothing while actually improving on what you get. For fun, after you calculate the average tv subscription cost for a decade, try multiplying it by your neighborhood then your town. It’s mind blowing what some of these schemes rake in. Between your coffee, tv, and phone the savings can pay for a shack off the beaten path somewhere if you really want it to. Sounds hard to believe to some but that stuff really adds up over a decade.

          2. Now do the math on cable/satellite and your cell phone.

            I do not have any cable/satellite. I have not turned on my own television in over 6 years. I do have a cell phone, which is a necessity for work. That being said, my last phone lasted 9 years until it was shot. I picked up a new one last year, which I hope to get another 9 years out of.

          3. I suppose after 15 years of no Sbux and 10 years of no “favorite shows,” you would have $50K or so for a healthy down payment on a $200K house off the beaten path. Except that, in those 15 years, the $200K house has become $340K if not more. Salaries just aren’t rising as fast as the house prices, as Ben has been documenting for a long time now.

            Of course it’s not impossible to find a cheaper house off the beaten path. But there are few good jobs off the beaten path, precisely because it’s jobs that beat the path in the first place. I don’t put much stock in full-time remote — not on a large scale, and not for younger adults who want decent schools and better entertainment than People of Wal-Mart.

            I think it can still happen, but not on any kind of scale.

          4. Now do the math on cable/satellite

            It was easy to cut the cord over 10 years ago. There was nothing worth watching.

            Streaming channels also stink. I did an HBOMax trial, The decision to not continue was easy. I cancelled Netflix after they offered “Cuties”.

          6. Cool story! Housing prices in Utah are going up roughly $15,000 per month at the moment. Throughout the country, even in shithole backwaters, those numbers are similar.

            I’m not saying don’t be frugal — I drive a 20 year old car, cook my meals at home, and repair things when they break. But the idea that if young people would buckle down and not buy a latte they could afford these stupid costs is asinine, and lots of older people repeat that nonsense with a smug satisfaction to my generation.

          7. “It was easy to cut the cord over 10 years ago. There was nothing worth watching.”

            Got that right!

            Look at the movies lately, at least half are revenge flix. I really miss those 90’s B movies featuring cleavage and thigh gaps with a good helping of wile rather than today’s CGI schitt .

          8. older people repeat that nonsense with a smug satisfaction

            Our smugness has a shelf life as fixed income and savings get looted by rising prices.

    2. “Most Americans under 35 will never have a hope in hell of ever owning their own home free and clear as long as this criminal private banking cartel controls our money issuance.”

      This statement only applies to areas where you have high levels of population growth paired with slow/no growth policies. In these areas the fed is only one of your enemies. Your own neighbors who love open borders and NIMBY are just as guilty as the Fed. Luckily we live in a really big country and most of it is undeveloped. You can create your own oasis just about anywhere. If you are denied an equity position in your local area then you have no real business there. You should strongly consider finding equity elsewhere.

      For the record, I strongly disagree with scenarios that involve renting except for very short time frames. To win this game, you are either building an equity position or you are someone’s bitch and building their equity for them. Most Americans under 35 should ponder this carefully. Far too many people waste their prime working years and health making other people rich and then getting kicked to the curb. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies.

      1. “For the record”

        So include some math with that record. Perhaps you won’t be establishing a record with such verve and vigor.

        1. The fastest path to being landed is the preferred path in my opinion. That is my advice for young people. There will always be those who argue this point with all kinds of different examples and that is fine. The reality is, you are enriching others at your own expense. When you are free and clear in a low tax state, you don’t even need to worry about a career. There are so many ways today to make a few bucks to cover things once you are landed. My point to the younger folks on this blog is that life changing deals are coming in a few years if they are ready to grab them. Now is not the time to buy, now is the time to do serious research so you have a plan when there are abandoned properties piling up. It happens at the end of every real estate bubble. (except in the most sought after locations, their busts are short and not as steep but there are still relative deals if that is your thing) In the long run for most people, renting is not the path to either wealth or security.

          1. renting is not the path to either wealth or security.

            Unless, of course, renting modestly is a fraction of the cost of carrying a mortgage and a mansion on your back.

          2. “when there are abandoned properties piling up. It happens at the end of every real estate bubble.”

            “Abandoned” –> add $125K instantly. That’s only 120 years of skipping SBUX. And that’s just to get the place livable. And these days, you have to fight the hordes of corporate flippers armed with Yellenbux.

          3. “Unless, of course, renting modestly is a fraction of the cost of carrying a mortgage and a mansion on your back.”

            Which it still is to this day.

            DonkeyMath has made a whole lotta broke donkeys.

            Manassas Park, VA Housing Prices Crater 15% YOY As Underwater Borrowers Stamp Their Hoofs Like DebtDonkeys

            https://www.movoto.com/manassas-park-va/market-trends/

            As one housing analyst observed, “This is the golden age of mortgage fraud.”

      2. This statement only applies to areas where you have high levels of population growth paired with slow/no growth policies.

        This is actually not true. As Ben has highlighted, this current bubble has permeated every backwater location in the entire US. I’d argue that prices in BFE Idaho are actually worse than San Francisco. At least in SF there are some high paying jobs and other amenities. In bumfvck Idaho, there is none of that, just long time locals reaping insane pain from a deranged FED pumping trillions and hammering rates to zero for over a decade.

        1. What you are witnessing is only at the peak of the bubble which has already passed. You will see prices in many areas of the country revert all the way back and more as things come undone. You are too focused on thinking that the gains are permanent. You will see areas go completely bust. Ask Ben about Texas in the 80’s/early90’s. Idaho is mostly crap land and they have no shortage of it at all, they have only temporarily lost their minds. Soon they will be begging people to catch their falling knives. Heck, between bank runs in Canada and Russia we may see some bankrupt banks even sooner than anyone expects. Then come the tears. Now is the time to be making your long term plans so you are ready when the deals come. At the trough Idaho will have surplus houses that no one wants and you can lowball like a boss. Idaho isn’t really off the beaten path this time though, you need to widen your perspective. There are opportunities if you look.

  12. This should turn the tide.

    Former Miss Grand Ukraine joins fight against Russian invasion

    https://nypost.com/2022/02/26/former-miss-grand-ukraine-joins-fight-against-russian-invasion/

    A beauty queen and former Miss Grand Ukraine has apparently traded in her high heels for combat boots, joining the Ukrainian military in its push against the Russian invasion.

    Anastasia Lenna, Ukraine’s 2015 representative in the Miss Grand International beauty contest, has answered the call to defend her home, according to her Instagram account.

    1. Israel has a bevy hawt-ash babes in uniform.

      Meanwhile in the U.S., the Navy recently named a ship after Harvey Milk, a known sexual predator and anti-war zealot who was kicked out of the Navy. He was later assassinated by Dan White in 1978.

  14. “About half of loans were due to be re-financed over the next 12 months, he said. ‘Lots of people are fixed and that gives them some insulation but there’s also a lot of loans rolling off this year so on one hand, yes you’re fixed, but that fixed period doesn’t last very long.’”

    You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.

    From Investopedia:
    What Is a Fixed-Rate Mortgage?
    The term “fixed-rate mortgage” refers to a home loan that has a fixed interest rate for the entire term of the loan.

    1. You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.

      What they call “fixed” we call “adjustable”

    1. The Financial Times
      Berkshire Hathaway Inc
      Berkshire Hathaway profits soar but Warren Buffett bemoans lack of good deals
      Sage of Omaha warns low interest rates have inflated valuations across financial markets
      Warren Buffett
      Berkshire Hathaway chair Warren Buffett: ‘Long-term interest rates that are low push the prices of all productive investments upward, whether these are stocks, apartments, farms, oil wells, whatever’
      © Reuters
      Eric Platt in New York
      February 26 2022

      Warren Buffett on Saturday lamented the lack of attractive investments available to his sprawling $713bn Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, warning that low interest rates over the past two years had inflated valuations across financial markets.

      The musings, in Buffett’s long-anticipated annual letter, accompanied results that showed Berkshire’s operating profits had soared 45 per cent from a year before to $7.3bn in the final three months of the year. The gains were propelled by strong results from its BNSF Railway and the string of electric utilities it owns.

      Buffett, 91, told Berkshire investors that both he and his longtime right-hand man Charlie Munger had found “little that excites us” as they sought out investments with which to plough some of the group’s gargantuan $146.7bn cash pile into.

      “Charlie and I have endured similar cash-heavy positions from time to time in the past,” he said. “These periods are never pleasant; they are also never permanent. And, fortunately, we have had a mildly attractive alternative during 2020 and 2021 for deploying capital.”

      Buffett, who has been criticised for not using more of the company’s available cash to buy up companies to add to its portfolio, has instead turned heavily to buying back Berkshire stock. The company spent $27.1bn on share repurchases last year, and Buffett noted in his letter that it had already bought a further $1.2bn of Berkshire stock in 2022.

      The view from the doyen of the investment industry comes after a turbulent three months in financial markets, with investors dumping the shares of lossmaking companies as they race out of riskier corners of the stock market.

      “Speaking less politely, I would say that bull markets breed bloviated bull,” Buffett said, before trailing off.
      …

      1. I find it odd that someone in his 90’s, who has just a few years left, is still obsessed with amassing an even greeter fortune.

        2. It’s a golf game….nothing more. Well, except you want a high s odd not a low one. Most billionaires work…till they drop.

          A good friend of mine is a yacht captain…even worked for tiger woods on MY privacy. He said many of these elite are sad folks. Many of them don’t have real friends. Sad really…married to work.

          1. He said many of these elite are sad folks. Many of them don’t have real friends.
            My friend used to live on Park Ave. in Manhattan and she said the people in her building were the most unhappy people she has ever known.

        3. He has to make more money to donate it all to Gates’ foundation so they can vaccinate everyone everywhere for everything.

          1. Let’s say that’s his goal. He’s gonna be dead in a few years, so why be obsessed with getting the kill shot into every arm? Unless, of course, he is beholden to someone far more powerful than he is.

          2. “Let’s say that’s his goal.”

            I was half joking. Greed is what motivates him. I remember watching an interview with him, he said he eats McDonald’s every day, and if the market is doing well, he gets cheese on his burger- if it’s doing poorly, no cheese. That is a mental disorder.

        4. I find it odd that someone in his 90’s, who has just a few years left, is still obsessed with amassing an even greeter fortune.

          It’s about keeping score and bragging rights. They want more than the next billionaire. It’s the greed disease, and it’s what’s destroying this country. We’re almost finished. We’re in the late stages of a complete collapse of the currency and the entire financial and economic system. But these clowns are still “frontin’.”

    2. LOL Uncle Warren! You have to admire a nonagenarian who still shoots from the hip so accurately.

      “Uncle Warren” my asz. This “kindly old man” persona is farcical. This guy is a globalist creep of the highest order. He’s selling trailers to the poor with predatory loans, then repossessing them. This guy should be swinging just like all of them.

      When you buy anything, anywhere from a big US corporation, money is flowing into the pockets of the Warren Buffets of the country. They own everything. Railroads, retail, banks, commodities, food – EVERYTHING.

  17. Linked from the Covid Red Pills Telegram channel.

    World Economic Forum .pdf file titled Advancing Digital Agency: The Power of Data Intermediaries (February 2022):

    https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Advancing_towards_Digital_Agency_2022.pdf

    It’s just about all of the Mark Of The Beast that the Book of Revelation warned you about.

    Scroll to section 3.1 “The role of digital identity in supporting human agency” to see what these demonic globalists have planned for your post-human future.

    1. I wonder what kind of “emergency” they will foist on us, so that the masses “demand” this digital ID.

    2. Linked from the Covid Red Pills Telegram channel.

      The terrified old billionaire globalists, panicked over the proposition of having to leave this mortal coil and their precious wealth, forced their psycho mouthpieces like Fraudci, the media and the police to order people locked down inside their homes to supposedly prevent the transmission of the Woohoo. However, that actually enhances the spread, because unlike the billionaires who live in mansions on vast acreage, the poor live right on top of each other in tiny apartments and oftentimes squalor, which is the perfect setting for a virus to thrive.

      What these people did was inexcusable and unforgivable. It was not about public health at all, but power and abuse. We have morphed into a “billionaires on parade” society, where obscenely wealthy globalists abuse everybody else and use every tool in their kit to justify it. We need to put an end to these people and their grip on society.

    1. Being that we are not at war with Russia, on what legal basis could that be done?

      That would shatter the US’s role as the ultimate financial safe haven. We count on that money coming here.

  19. Do you find it’s ‘interesting’ that we find ourselves in a new ‘crisis’ just when the cividox is about to end….

    2. Pretty much expected. From a meme I saw somewhere else:

      Pawn shop customer: Now that the pandemic is over, will life go back to normal?

      Pawn shop clerk: Best I can give you is a Russian war.

    3. Vladimir Putin didn’t close businesses, the Democrat Party did. Vladimir Putin didn’t close schools, the Democrat Party did. Vladimir Putin didn’t cause $2+ billion of property damage in 2020, the Democrat Party did. Vladimir Putin didn’t enact mandates for a “vaccine” that is not a vaccine but is actually a deadly poison, the Democrat Party did.

      The only “crisis” is Russia not winning back territory that is rightfully theirs from a globalist puppet regime.

      Zelensky is not a Christian.

      1. Zelensky is not a Christian

        I find it interesting that despite the ever present anti-semitism in the world that there are so many Jews in places of political power, especially in countries with a strong ethnicity. Even in Mexico, it is possible that the next president will be a Jew (Claudia Sheinbaum)

    1. Scratch the above – this alleged video looks like its from the Beirut port blast that happened a couple of years ago.

          1. This will be a debacle for the Kremlin. You can’t subdue an armed population that doesn’t want to answer to a foreign invader. Especially when the populace is smart & capable, as the Ukrainians are, and now NATO weapons are pouring in. They may have a sh*t government, but the Ukrainian nation, which lost millions under Stalin’s rule of terror, will not be submitting to Moscow again. Bank on it.

          2. I read that Zelensky is calling for foreign volunteers to fight Russia. If true, that is a sign of desperation.

      2. Question all of it.

        The First Casualty of War Is the Truth – The Current Western Propaganda for Ukraine Is Epic in Scale – The Last Refuge
        https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/02/26/the-first-casualty-of-war-is-the-truth-the-current-western-propaganda-for-ukraine-is-epic-in-scale/

        (snip snip)

        “When we shared yesterday that all interested observers should be very wary of the information from media sources around Ukraine, there was a reason for that. Question everything. Take nothing at face value.

        “If you have never experienced the propaganda push surrounding war, the totality of the inbound bullsh*t can be destabilizing, overwhelming and unnerving. It’s one of the reasons why CTH doesn’t share immediate information. Everyone has an agenda.

        “Everything we are seeing in U.S. media surrounding U.S. interests in Ukraine is a massive propaganda operation with the headquarters in the U.S. State Department and U.S. intelligence community. The sense of sympathy you are feeling is part of an intentionally manipulative operation from within this DC matrix.

        “The images, pictures, videos, speeches, soundbites and the cinematography broadcast by U.S. corporate media are all purposefully intended to create a very specific outlook within the American people toward the issues in Ukraine. The leftist United Nations, and the leftist U.S State Dept, will work together on this just like they have done in the prior examples (Ukraine 1.0, Libya, Egypt, etc.).

        “It is very easy to become a victim of psychological warfare intended to manipulate our opinions.

        “The neocons, war promoting agents working on behalf of the UniParty and the collective globalist interests, are all united in their effort.

        “Unfortunately, almost everything being transmitted from corporate news into our psyche is part of a battle for your mind. The goal is to create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

        “This is why people who are familiar with these types of tactics often tap-out when the drumbeats get loudest.”

        (click on the link to read rest)

    1. Look at Putin’s hands, and particularly his fingers around the nails, pudgy and full of fluid. He’s not healthy, IMHO.

  22. I bet the real numbers are even more disastrous.

    Biden Approval Rating Falls to Record Low 37%: Post-ABC Poll

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-27/biden-approval-rating-falls-to-record-low-37-post-abc-poll?sref=ibr3A0ff

    President Joe Biden’s approval rating fell to a record low in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, with 37% saying they approve of the job he is doing and 55% saying they disapprove ahead of his first State of the Union address on Tuesday.

    When asked which party they would prefer control Congress, 50% said they would rather have Republicans in charge compared with 40% favoring Democrats. With regard to how they would vote in House elections if races were held today, 49% of registered voters say they would prefer the Republican candidate while 42% said they would vote for the Democratic candidate.

    1. It amazes me that over one third of American citizens are abject idiots. I still see them where I live wandering around with masks on.
      Proud Bidet voters, and BLM supporters.

  23. I can see some “unintended consequences” on the high-end housing markets in the US & UK from not respecting foreign oligarch’s property rights.

    Prominent Putin propagandist rages on live TV about losing his Italian villa – which is next to George Clooney’s – because of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10557153/Prominent-Putin-propagandist-rages-live-TV-losing-Italian-villas-sanctions.html

  24. cued up at 7:20 – 9:01

    Watch: Moderna CEO Struggles To Answer Why COVID-19 Contains Patented Gene Sequence

    by Jamie White
    February 27th 2022, 11:01 am

    282 Comments

    Cryptopolis
    2 days ago
    Stephane Bancel: “Yes, we will get back to you on that… in 75 years.”

    Brian Nave
    2 days ago
    I can’t believe what I just watched. FJB and this guy too!

    https://youtu.be/YcgE-5a1Ztc?t=440

    1. Moderna CEO Struggles To Answer Why COVID-19 Contains Patented Gene Sequence

      Redpilled Redhead on January 19, 2022 at 10:38 am: And Moderna’s fingerprints are on that furin cleavage site. What remains to be seen is if those fingerprints were planted.

      I’ve been providing some counsel behind the scenes.

  27. All I need to do is pull up the front page of Yahoo news and its “muh Russia” narrative to realize which side the globalist sh!tbags are on. Go Putin! I honestly don’t gaf who is right or wrong, I am anti-globalist and I stand against EVERYTHING they are for. Whatever FJB says, I am on the opposite side. I don’t even care what it is. You tell me his stance, I take the opposite. Because CONSEQUENCES.

    1. which side the globalist sh!tbags are on

      They helped Zelensky come to power. They tried the same recently in Kazakhstan, but failed.

      I just hope nothing stupid happens, like a nuclear strike.

      1. If Putin’s only goal was to replace Zelenskyy with his own anti-globalist puppet, surely he could think of a better way than blasting half of Kyiv’s infrastructure. Now somebody’s got to rebuild all that rubble.

        1. Too much Globalist News. Consider that the infrastructure has not been blasted as you are told. I don’t support Putin, I just don’t like BS.

          2. Clearly our media is feeding us BS. Fox is no exception (just aimed at a different audience).

            Thanks for the link Red.

      2. I just hope nothing stupid happens, like a nuclear strike.”

        With NATO sending in weapons and Russian soldiers dying
        Putin may become unhinged ? I don’t think its going like he thought it would.

        2. “With NATO sending in weapons…”

          Europe’s NLAW is a potent guided missile bunker and tank killer. The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone can deploy guided munitions and provide real-time reconnaissance, remotely. I’m sure the 1st world’s spy agencies will provide the portable weapons to destroy fast moving aircraft and long range missiles. The real infantry grind will be the car bombs and door to door ground fighting.

  28. Corporate owned fake news with censorship and fraud will prevent the public from the analysis of objective reality.
    Also, psychology is being used in a evil way to get the desired response from people , A example being fear mongering.

    Lately , I have spent hours and hours listening to Holocaust Survival Testimony. How Hitler pulled off his rise to power , with massive genocide , and the specific tactics used .
    No wonder the Entities trying to take over are censoring and canceling any analogies with Nazi Germany, because their methods are so similar.
    As far as the Jew , first Hitler bad mouthed them. Than he prevented them from engaging in normal activities of the non Jew Germans, like schools, public pools, etc. Than the Jews had their businesses taken from them. Than the Jews had to turn over their wealth to the Nazis. Than Jews were isolated into Ghettos. Than the Jews were forced into slave labor camps or from the ghettos, while they were deprived of food. Than after working these people to death with little food, the gas chamber was the end stop.
    Also , the Jews had to give up their radios, so they wouldn’t know what was happening.
    So, scapegoating, as Hitler did to create a enemy was used by Hitler repeatedly.
    Fake news by Hitler was mandatory. Punishment increased as time when on to any group or person that disputed the Hitler Narratives and his brainwashing of the German people into insanity.

    So , when you hear CNN talk, its the voices of Klaus Schwabs, Bill Gates, WEF, Elites, Big Pharmacy, the 1% . So, when Coporate fake news say stuff like anybody that says something bad about the vaccine should be arrested, or comments like the unvaxxed should be taken to camps, be very concerned. Blocking out dispute or informed consent to these vaccines, was necessary to get something so expiermental and unproven into as many people as possible in the frenzy of the Covid fear mongering.
    Now, the big cover up on the death and injury of the vaccines, and the fact the shot don’t work. The fact that the Pandemic was faked and PCR tests were bogus to up the cases.
    Its looking like these psychopaths just wanted to unleash gene altering substances by a fake vaccine . When you look at their goal of trans humanism and the altering of the genetics of humans , as these nuts are trying to play God , its sinister.
    They altered plants, crops, and animals , and now the next target for altering is humans.
    As far as I’m concerned their gene altering has been a big failure and has only gotten bad results.
    They have evil goals , with arrogance, and the people subjected to the expierment were deceived.
    They don’t care if people don’t want to be changed like this , its going to be forced on mankind by these psychopaths .
    Not perfected science at all, and not voted for by the globe. But they don’t care, your just a lab rat.
    And when you look at this Dictorship that’s planned, and control of resources , loss of freedom, medical tyranny, that goes with the plan to alter humans genes, all forced on people, its evil.
    Like they view us as cattle , or plants to be tampered with to be altered into something that serves their aberration of what they think they are entitled to do.
    And they are dangerous and the biggest existential threat to humans and this planet.
    Just saying

  29. TrumParty candidates are going to win across the country this fall. Perhaps Lizard Cheesney should have represented the citizens of Wyoming all these years instead of cashing checks from the Xi regime and harrassing Jan 6 protesters. Az Gov Dooshey is gonna get it stuck in his ass sideways along with a bunch of other Trump haters.

    Sincerely,
    Fuuh Qkew

    1. I wonder what the primary picture looks like. If we didn’t have wall-to-wall disasters, we would be talking about primary elections all around the country about now.

  30. Uh, well there’s always, er, Kamala willing ready and waiting to take his place …

    “He looks weak, he looks confused.”

    Former White House Physician Says Biden is Not Cognitively Fit to Deal With Russia Crisis – Summit News
    https://summit.news/2022/02/24/former-white-house-physician-says-biden-is-not-cognitively-fit-to-deal-with-russia-crisis/

    (snip)

    “Former White House physician Ronny Jackson responded to Russia’s attack on Ukraine by warning that Joe Biden is not ‘cognitively… fit to be our president right now.’

    “The current Texas Republican Congressman made the comments on Fox News after Vladimir Putin ordered the bombardment of Ukrainian military infrastructure across the country.

    “’The whole country is seeing his mental cognitive issues on display for over a year now, and there’s really no question in most people’s minds that there’s something going on with him,’ said Jackson.

    “’He’s not cognitively the same as he used to be and, in my mind, not fit to be our president right now,’ he added.

    “The Congressman said that the 79-year-old representing America at a time when a message of strength needs to be sent isn’t going to end well.

    “‘Every time he gets up and talks to the American people, it’s not just the American people that are watching him speak, it’s the whole world, and that’s part of what the problem is here,’ said Jackson.

    “'[Biden] looks tired, he looks weak, he looks confused, he’s incoherent, and it sends a message of weakness all over the world, and they’re seizing up on that,’ he added.

    “A poll last week revealed that two thirds of Americans want to see Biden take the same cognitive competence test that Trump took when he was in office.

    “During a press conference last month, Biden stumbled into yet another embarrassing gaffe when he suggested a ‘minor incursion’ into Ukraine would go unpunished.”

    We are fooked.

    1. Biden isn’t calling the moves, its his Globalists masters that are calling every move.

      The Globalist have a defined window of time to implement everything they have planned. They have been planning their takeover and One World Order for decades. They have been sitting things up for a long time. They had to hijack and infiltrate a lot of Government and Agencies . They had to corrupt a lot of systems , so they could carry out the plans.
      It was pretty obvious they felt Trump and Trump voters were a setback to their plans.
      The Globalist don’t care at all about what the people want, because its their vision of the world and the future that they want to force.
      They have become very criminal in their tactics and they are con artist fraudsters, with their agenda.
      Time after time what they say through media ends up being false. Its all about the narratives that move then closer to all their goals.
      It was no accident that Covid was unleashed when it was, and what was to be accomplished with it.

      I don’t like them .

  31. So this latest ruse, characterized as a crisis, is simply to transfer a few trillion from the US to NATO.

    How much scharole was transferred from the US govt to drug companies domestic and foriegn for the covid ruse?

    1. The Government Cares Act, and other funding transferred in the trillions to the Big Pharmacy and medical. There was a great deal of money given to the Big Monopolies by the Government but I don’t know the figures.

      For every small and medium business that was destroys or locked down, that market share went to monopolies and big box stores.
      The private sector citizen got peanuts, and a lot of government workers got paid their normal salaries in spite of not working at all. Some were allowed to work remotely.

      They seemed to target small private sector business to lock down and destroy.
      And they made it difficult for small business to get these relief packages also.
      Course the truckers had to keep on working and producing and supermarkets etc. The health workers had to carry on also, but they were repaid by threatened job loss if they don’t take the jab.
      One big loot job based on a contrived Pandemic, where lockdowns and masks didn’t do shit.

      1. The health workers had to carry on also, but they were repaid by threatened job loss if they don’t take the jab.

        Talk about a slap in the face.

  33. Bitcoin is taking another dip. Strong resistance around the $40K mark. IIRC, Saylor’s average buy price was around $35K. I think pretty soon we’re going to find out if Bitcoin can survive a war and true unrest as a currency.

    1. You will know when the “everything bubble” is collapsing in earnest, because Shitcoin and all crypto will be in a freefall to zero – its intrinsic value.

      1. “Banking system is freezing up maybe bitcoin will do better now ?”
        Sure, speculative digital tulips work great in war when electricity and natural resources are in short supply, right?

  35. WASHINGTON (AP) — Fencing installed around the U.S. Capitol for months after the January 2021 insurrection will be put back up before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday as concern grows about potential demonstrations or truck convoys snarling traffic in the nation’s capital.

    Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a statement Sunday that the fence will be erected around the Capitol building for the speech and is being put up “out of an abundance of caution,” in consultation with the Secret Service.

    Let’s go Brandon!

    1. First President in American history that needed to be surrounded by barbed wire and an army, to protect him from the American People.

      1. to protect him from the American People

        Didn’t you see the memo? We are the problem, because we Deplorables have a “Psychological’ Issue With Being Happy”

          1. “are “awesome” in some universe.”

            Mike Miller summed it up nicely…

            “That is insane. More correctly, anyone who actually believes that silly crap is insane.”

    2. The Financial Times
      Federal Reserve
      Investors brace for flood of mortgage bonds when Fed trims balance sheet
      US central bank is set to unwind massive pandemic-era stimulus measures
      Housing in Henderson, Nevada, with the logo of the Federal Reserve superimposed
      The Fed is expected to be highly sensitive to any adverse market reaction stemming from its balance sheet plans
      © FT montage/Bloomberg
      Kate Duguid and Colby Smith in New York 17 hours ago

      Investors are bracing for turmoil in the market for mortgage loans backed by the government as the Federal Reserve begins to sketch out its plans to shrink its $9tn balance sheet.

      A debate is under way about how the US central bank will go about reducing its enormous stock of Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). These were amassed over the past two years as the Fed sought to quell financial panic stemming from the pandemic and shield the world’s largest economy from one of the worst contractions in history.

      The Fed has pledged to reduce its holdings of both Treasuries and MBS, and to move towards a smaller all-Treasury portfolio in a “predictable manner”, but has yet to divulge any details about the timing and pace of a reduction.

      Comments from top officials and minutes from last month’s policy meeting suggest there is support for the central bank to sell its mortgage-related holdings outright rather than simply allowing the securities to mature, a far more aggressive approach that investors warn may roil the market.

      “If you were to try and execute something like that today it would be pretty hard on markets,” said Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock.
      …

  39. Kick ’em when they’re down! (From Dumver’s 9News)

    LOUISVILLE, Colorado — People who lost their homes in the Marshall Fire rallied Sunday in hopes of pushing Louisville city council members to drop green building codes that residents say add an extra financial burden.

    The city had passed those building codes in 2021, prior to the fire. Many residents are asking that those codes be dropped for fire victims. They’re asking the city to allow them to adhere to less strict codes passed in 2018.

    The 2021 codes require homeowners to build houses with efficient insulation, siding and other updates. The net-zero appendix also requires homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint.

    While India and China drastically raise their carbon footprints. So spend tens of thousands, that you don’t have, more in rebuilding your destroyed home, even though it will make no difference in “Saving the Earth”.

  40. Here is an interesting read with two (2) interesting snips …

    Ukraine Will Become “Pretty Much A Nothingburger” For Markets: Epsilon Theory’s Ben Hunt
    https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/ukraine-will-become-pretty-much-a?utm_source=url

    Interesting snip number one:

    “Bitcoin is ‘not money’, Ben says – but the bitcoin project is ‘fantastic’. It has been ‘not just corrupted, but it’s been transformed by Wall Street and it’s been neutered by Washington. It has become another table in the Wall Street casino.'”

    Interesting snip number two:

    “Moving on to inflation, I asked about whether or not the Fed has the spine to hike in these conditions.

    “’This is what I do, I research narratives,’ Ben said. ‘There’s a very strong narrative right now that allows the Fed to raise rates. So that’s what the Fed is going to do. Is it 5 hikes, is it 8 hikes? I don’t know. But the narrative today is so incredibly different than this time last year – when we were arguing about ‘transitory’ – that uncertainty, that narrative question, has been answered.’

    “’Everyone knows that everyone knows that the Fed is going to hike. Which means when they do hike, it won’t affect markets,’ he continues.”

    FWIW.

  41. EU Head Says Ukraine “Belong[s] To Us” As She Announces TOTAL BAN On RT and Sputnik News Broadcasts

    by Steve Watson
    February 28th 2022, 6:16 am

    Ursula von der Leyen announced Sunday that the EU will ban not only RT (Russia Today), but also Sputnik TV broadcasts. It is not known at this time whether the ban will extend to the websites of the networks.

    In what she admitted was an “unprecedented” step, von der Leyen declared “we will ban in the European Union the Kremlin’s media machine,” claiming that the networks are spreading “harmful disinformation.”

    “The state owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and to sow division in our union,” the Commission head proclaimed, adding that the EU is further “developing tools to ban toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”

    In other words, only Western EU bureaucrat approved media broadcasts will be available for consumption throughout the bloc from now on.

    The announcement came simultaneously with a declaration to shut down EU airspace for all Russian aircraft:

    EU to ban RT and Sputnik news
    43,358 views
    Feb 27, 2022

    https://youtu.be/flEM5TG-dZc

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