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Widespread Reports Of Weakening Sales, Falling Prices, And Inability To Get Credit

A report from WGHP on North Carolina. “Investment firms are scooping up more and more homes for sale in the Triad. Diane Spivack, a resident of Brightwood Farm, started asking herself who her neighbors were when she saw some people on her street not maintaining their homes or abiding by the HOA code. She quickly discovered more than 100 of the over 600 homes in her neighborhood aren’t owned by a person or family but by a handful of hedge funds and investment groups. The homes are then rented to single families.”

“‘I rallied on Nextdoor to see how many people knew about this, and a lot of them didn’t know. This is hurting our home values,’ Spivack said. ‘I just want our investment to be safe.’ ‘What’s interesting now is they’re paying over market value, and they’re actually increasing value in the marketplace, so there’s some good to these things happening, but there’s some bad to these things as well,’ said Brad Barbour the owner of Hill Barbour Realty. ‘Let’s say an investor owns more than 10% of a neighborhood. That’s a problem for a lending institution because if something happened to that investor, if they shut their doors for any reason, that changes the makeup of that neighborhood,’ Barbour said.”

From WOWT in Nebraska. “The leader of an Omaha landlord organization says more and more landlords are getting out of the home rental business. Rick McDonald is a landlord and he says lately landlords have been taking it on the chin, and the punching started when the pandemic hit. The federal funds were slow to arrive and landlords have more than one mortgage to pay. ‘So it took an effort by a number of different parties to try and figure out how you’re going to keep from losing your property.'”

“McDonald says things seem to be piling up, working against landlords, now they have to deal with another year or rising valuations and many landlords are getting out of the game. ‘I hear more and more I think I’ll just get out of it, this just isn’t worth it anymore.'”

From NOLA in Louisiana. “It seemed like a profitable fit: two big players in the New Orleans housing game, teaming to soak up high demand for tourist rentals. But the deal that low income landlord Joshua Brunoand short-term rental giant Sonder USA struck in late 2017 soon devolved into a dispute that is headed for a federal trial Monday. Bruno’s attorneys allege that Sonder breached the contract and violated Louisiana’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, by manufacturing cause to break the leases. The real reason, Bruno argues, was Sonder’s ‘inability to lease up the units and their failure to procure the appropriate and required short-term rental permits from the city of New Orleans.'”

The Real Deal on Florida. “A unit owner at Paraiso Bayviews is accusing a mortgage company owned by a semi-celebrity Miami broker and Miami-based Devstar Group of attempting to force her into paying $100,000 in illegal late fees for falling behind on her payments, according to a recently filed lawsuit. Paraiso Ocean LLC, a company owned by Veronica Aguilar Garrido, is suing International Mortgage Capital Fund I in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for breach of contract, fraud and deceptive practices. It’s an attempt to stop the foreclosure sale of unit 307 in the 44-story tower at 501 Northeast 31st Street. Garrido’s entity bought the studio for $560,900 in 2018, records show.”

“Internoscia told The Real Deal that Garrido’s entity’s lawsuit is completely inaccurate. ‘When people default on a mortgage, they hire attorneys to come up with every possible excuse,’ Internoscia said. ‘The foreclosure was filed way before Covid even started. We tried to resolve this matter six or seven different times.'”

From Socket Site in California. “As we outlined at the end of January: Purchased for $1.185 million in December of 2015, the ‘modern, stylish, tri-level loft’ #14 at 175 Russ Street, ‘in the heart of SOMA,’ resold for $1.165 million in April of 2019,  which was down 1.7 percent on an apples-to-apples basis but ‘17.1 percent over asking!’ according to all industry stats and aggregate reports. And having returned to the market listed for $1.195 million this past June, reduced to $1.189 million in August and then to $1.165 million in November, a sale at which would be considered to be ‘at asking,’ the ‘luxurious tri-level loft’ is now in contract.”

“The sale of 175 Russ Street #14 has now closed escrow with a contract price of $1.1 million, down 5.6 percent from the second quarter of 2019 and 7.2 percent below its price at the end of 2015 on an apples-to-apples-to-apples basis.”

From Tech Crunch. “Online mortgage lender Better.com is poised to lay off roughly 50% of its staff of about 8,000 this week, according to sources familiar with internal happenings at the company. With the interest market changing dramatically, Better.com had to transition to be more of a ‘purchase’ business, or one that helped people with new loans. The hit to its reputation has apparently made it more challenging for Better.com to attract new customers.”

“Macroeconomic factors have also had a negative impact on the company’s business. Higher interest rates, which led to a large drop in demand for refinancings, led to the original layoffs in December. Interest rates are only continuing to rise. Rising inflation is not helping matters. No word yet on when or if the company will move forward with its SPAC, but it would be surprising if it did, considering the state of Better.com’s business. Last year, we reported that the SPAC would value Better.com at $6.9 billion. It’s likely safe to say that its valuation is dramatically lower today.”

The Globe and Mail. “The day after the Bank of Canada raised its policy interest rate off its pandemic-emergency floor, the central bank’s Governor, Tiff Macklem, faced down worried questions about the strains rising borrowing costs were about to place on the backs of Canadians. ‘The economy can handle higher interest rates,’ he told the House of Commons finance committee. ‘The economy can handle higher interest rates,’ he told reporters in a news conference. ‘The economy can handle it,’ he said in a speech to the CFA Society of Toronto.”

“Mr. Macklem’s confidence is underpinned by the bank’s faith that the economy can pivot away from the bloated housing sector. It’s no given. The bank has tied its hopes to such a growth rotation before, and has been disappointed. That’s remarkably similar to the script embraced by Mr. Macklem’s predecessor, Stephen Poloz, as he attempted to guide the economy to a full recovery and return interest rates to normal levels during the lost decade after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Almost from the day Mr. Poloz started as governor in 2013, he talked optimistically about the economy pivoting from consumer-led growth fuelled by ultra-low-rate monetary policy and a soaring housing market, to a more ‘self-sustaining’ phase.”

“If those other sources of growth stall, rising rates will pose an oversized burden on an economy that has relied heavily on debt-fuelled housing and consumer demand to keep it afloat. ‘The fact of the matter is that we have a tremendously leveraged economy on our hands. It’s much more interest-rate sensitive than it has ever been in the past,’ economist David Rosenberg, head of Toronto-based Rosenberg Research, told BNN Bloomberg. ‘That’s going to thwart the extent to which central banks can raise interest rates without crushing the economy.'”

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless says: ‘With rising global uncertainty and the potential for weaker consumer sentiment amidst tighter monetary policy settings, the downside risk for housing markets has become more pronounced.’ Martin North, founder of Digital Finance Analytics, says: ‘Prices are likely to ease back from here and so the imperative [for first-home buyers] to catch the runaway train is, in my view, old news.'”

“The forces that powered the red-hot housing market over the past two years are losing momentum, says Steve Mickenbecker, group executive of financial services at Canstar. Westpac this week lifted its fixed-interest mortgage rates for the third time this year, following similar moves by other major banks. ‘That shows just how quickly interest rates rise when they start moving off the floor,’ Mickenbecker says. ‘Borrowers have to prepare for multiple [interest-rate] increases and a big leap in repayments.'”

From Newshub New Zealand. “A new real estate survey has revealed a record number of agents are seeing a decline in house prices in their location. Out of the 468 respondents, a record net 44 percent of agents said that prices are declining in their location. Just 6 percent reported that prices are rising, 50 percent said they are falling, and 45 percent said they are not changing. The survey shows that agents feel prices are falling in all locations except Queenstown.”

“The survey respondents also revealed that fear of missing out – or FOMO – is no more and just 7 percent said they saw buyers displaying this. No agents reported seeing any FOMO in Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, and Dunedin. A gross 18 percent in Queenstown, however, reported some FOMO, the survey says. ‘Widespread reports of weakening sales, falling prices, and inability to get credit likely account for buyers no longer feeling a visceral need to buy as soon as possible,’ the report says.”

From Reuters. “Chinese high-yield dollar debt spreads have hit their widest since the peak of property developer China Evergrande Group’s liquidity crisis last November. Clarence Tam, fixed income portfolio manager at Avenue Asset Management said developers’ margins remain under heavy pressure from falling sales and government curbs, despite regional policy loosening. Poor fundamentals prompting rating downgrades would raise the difficulty of refinancing, leading to tighter liquidity and worse fundamentals, he said. ‘We think the downward spiral will continue … and spread to some ex-BB names.'”

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This Post Has 151 Comments

    1. “changes the makeup of that neighborhood”

      My old neighborhood changed. So I broke my lease and moved to a better building in a better neighborhood less than two miles away.

      Loanowners can’t do that.

  3. ‘Mr. Macklem’s confidence is underpinned by the bank’s faith that the economy can pivot away from the bloated housing sector’

    K-da is so screwed. Repeatedly we hear of “economy pivot”. Just who’s at the wheel to do this pivoting Tiff? Where is that darned wheel, in yer closet? That’s not how an economy with many millions of moving parts and individual considerations works.

    I am reminded of when the UCLA Anderson School announced last decade: well shacks are done, but public construction spending will save us!

    1. Pivoting the economy is a huge concern – the problem is what to? Federal Canada (ex-Alberta and NFLD) has also pivoted away from energy towards magic green bean investments. Light manufacturing is slowly declining because of wages and benefits (including 20% increase in workers compensation insurance)

      The biggest problem politically is that so many of the upper middle class and some middle class have so much of their ‘wealth’ tied up in real estate. If that goes down significantly – there are going to be huge political ramifications in the richer areas.

      1. The “wealth” effect of real estate has always been a fairy tale, used to hide the fact that the economy has been swirling the bowl for the last 40 years.

        1. This is what you see in third world cities. Real state is out of reach for the vast majority of who live and work in the city.

  4. ‘attempting to force her into paying $100,000 in illegal late fees for falling behind on her payments’

    As they say down there, welcome to South Florida! Who knew a hard money lender could schlong the winnahs?

    1. ‘attempting to force her into paying $100,000 in illegal late fees for falling behind on her payments’

      “Garrido’s entity”?

      Bleed turnip, bleed!

      She had a good run, looks like she probably made the payments for almost a whole year.

      “Paraiso Ocean LLC, a company owned by Veronica Aguilar Garrido, is suing International Mortgage Capital Fund I in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for breach of contract, fraud and deceptive practices. It’s an attempt to stop the foreclosure sale of unit 307 in the 44-story tower at 501 Northeast 31st Street. Garrido’s entity bought the studio for $560,900 in 2018, records show.”

      “Garrido claims she fell behind on her mortgage payments due to financial woes as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the complaint states.”

      “M&M Private Lending Group provided Garrido’s Paraiso Ocean with a $360,685 loan in 2018. The proceeds were used to finance the purchase of the 1,069-square-foot studio at the 386-unit condo building in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.”

      “Garrido’s Paraiso Ocean defaulted on the mortgage when it stopped making payments in August 2019, the complaint states.”

      1. “Garrido claims she fell behind on her mortgage payments due to financial woes as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the complaint states.”

        What’s the matter Veronica, Paraiso Ocean LLC didn’t get enough cash from the Federal Payment Protection Plan to make your payments?

  6. She quickly discovered more than 100 of the over 600 homes in her neighborhood aren’t owned by a person or family but by a handful of hedge funds and investment groups.

    Die, speculator scum.

    1. And the banks will pull financing for concentrated risk. Ask the airbox gamblers. We can see how this plays out – again. Credit is withdrawn, market gets shaky. Lenders pull back more, repeat.

      1. And the banks will pull financing for concentrated risk
        Back in 2005 (I think) the chief credit officer at our TBTF bank told the Mortgage management to keep a very close eye on Condos in FL and to not let any Loan Officers get “in bed” with anyone condo or series of Condos. We did not want a whole lot of Condo loans. By the way Fannie and Freddie recently dramatically increased rates and Fees on 2nd homes because they had to many in their portfolios (concentration risks).

    2. When the big crash arrives, won’t it be this scum who snaps up the fire sale deals?

      1. Like the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, this bubble’s collapse could be an extinction event for housing speculator scum. Especially if we have another “credit crunch” in the banking system.

      2. Yes…with their pockets full of bailout assistance funding from the Fed. Allowing markets to settle out to fundamental value after a bubble collapse is not in the Fed’s playbook. Bankers gotta eat!

    3. There’s nothing to indicate that Diane is speculator scum. It could be that she just bought a house to live in. It’s the corporate buyers who are speculator scum. And I guess it’s a trade off. Corporate buying raises your house value, but you have to live in a neighborhood of unmaintained houses.

      1. Corporate are buying anything they can get their hands to rent is a myth just like the most stringiest loan requirements. Most of slum-lord wannabees are your freidns and neighbors. Corporate ownership of single family housing is very less.

        “Residential real estate acquired by companies or institutions soared to 90,215 homes in the third quarter of 2021, as investors, both large and small, accounted for 18% of single-family home sales. That’s up 80.2% from the year prior, according to the online real estate firm Redfin.”

      2. ‘This is hurting our home values,’ Spivack said. ‘I just want our investment to be safe’.

        This is the language of a speculator. In the end, years of rapidly rising home prices ultimately makes a region uneconomical and ruins it. Diane seems to make it clear that she has no concern for such things. Unfortunately, most people are like Diane.

    4. “She quickly discovered more than 100 of the over 600 homes in her neighborhood aren’t owned by a person or family but by a handful of hedge funds and investment groups.”

      The fact she paid too much for a rapidly depreciating asset like a house, like tens of millions of others have, will dawn on her at a much slower pace. You know…. those 5 stages.

      Barnstable, MA Housing Prices Crater 28% YOY As Double Digit Price Declines Send Personal Bankruptcies Soaring

      https://www.movoto.com/barnstable-ma/market-trends/

      1. Ah, Barnstable MA. The great Cape Cod land rush of 2021. Folks were fleeing scariants in the more populated areas of the Bay State and anxiously migrated over the bridge to the bucolic sandy shores of the Cape. A friend who lives next to Barnstable crowed: “There is nothing to buy, nothing! There is nothing on the market!” Prices were soaring, bidding wars on the Cape??

        In July 2021 on the outer Cape, Barnstable County made the news with the “breakthrough” case debacle in Provincetown, over the rainy July 4th weekend. Initially there were 469 breakthrough cases (but it ended up being 1000+) ,75% of fully vaccinated people were infected and 79% were symptomatic. It was reported that “fully vaccinated” carried as much viral load in their nose as the un-injected. Alas! Fear not, despite this obvious vaccine failure, the “fully vaccinated” did not transmit it or contract it as easily as “unvaccinated”. Or so they said.

        That’s when the propaganda war against the dirty, selfish, stupid – but now it turns out, smart! – “unvaccinated” really began in earnest. it’s been interesting watching it all unfold.

  7. ‘No word yet on when or if the company will move forward with its SPAC, but it would be surprising if it did, considering the state of Better.com’s business. Last year, we reported that the SPAC would value Better.com at $6.9 billion. It’s likely safe to say that its valuation is dramatically lower today’

    Poof!

    ‘The company has raised just over $900 million since its 2016 inception, $500 million of which came from SoftBank in an April 2021 round that valued Better.com at $6 billion’

    The master-mind takes another a$$ pounding.

    1. It’s likely safe to say that its valuation is dramatically lower today’
      After the stunt it pulled last year and the expected fall in total originations and the switch to purchase money from Refis. I gotta wonder if they will even make it to the next Boom.

      1. We should start a death pool. Will Better be better off dead? Zillow can’t last, right? Sadly someone will probably buy the rights to them and do a rerun. How much is the domain better.com worth at auction? Maybe they should start retiring domains occasionally. Pets.com should be hall of famed or something.

    1. Making working people suffer.

      Sounds like a Democrat Party thing.

      “They’re not sending their best”

      1. Sounds like a Democrat Party thing.

        Once you’ve brainwashed enough people, you can hurt them and they will say ‘thank you’. Now roll up your sleeve, it’s time for the scheduled booster.

        1. “Once you’ve brainwashed enough people, you can hurt them and they will say ‘thank you’.”

          Yep. I get to experience (and profit from) this phenomenon every day.

          For me life is good, as for my customers, not so much.

      1. Electric deathtrap cars were 40% more costly to operate before utility rates doubled. Now they make even less sense.

  10. ‘ Westpac this week lifted its fixed-interest mortgage rates for the third time this year, following similar moves by other major banks. ‘That shows just how quickly interest rates rise when they start moving off the floor,’ Mickenbecker says. ‘Borrowers have to prepare for multiple [interest-rate] increases and a big leap in repayments’

    But central banker said not til 2024?

  11. ‘So it took an effort by a number of different parties to try and figure out how you’re going to keep from losing your property.’”

    There should be only two relevant parties: the landlord & the tenant. But ever since the CDC interjected itself into contract law, and the worthless SCOTUS let them do it for well over a year, now landlords want to make their problem, “our” problem. I don’t think so. If you lose your property because you failed to fight government overreach, or bought rental property in a communist-controlled blue city or state, that’s your problem, not mine.

  12. “Online mortgage lender Better.com is poised to lay off roughly 50% of its staff of about 8,000 this week, according to sources familiar with internal happenings at the company. With the interest market changing dramatically, Better.com had to transition to be more of a ‘purchase’ business, or one that helped people with new loans.

    Starting to get a sense of deja vous here. Mortgage lenders cutting headcount & shuttering operations was a leading indicator when the 2007 housing bubble bust was in a terminal downward spiral.

  13. Franklin Park, NJ Housing Prices Crater 28% YOY As NY/NJ/CT Housing Market Turns Toxic On Years Of Appraisal Fraud

    https://www.movoto.com/franklin-park-nj/market-trends/

    As a noted economist stated so eloquently, “Nothing accelerates the economy and creates jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.”

  15. The writing is on the wall, speculator scum. For far too long you’ve been running up housing prices and denying families of a roof over their head. Now it’s time for communities & regions to fight back.

    Wales announces a council tax clampdown on second homeowners amid soaring house prices – will more parts of Britain follow suit?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-10586245/Wales-announces-council-tax-clampdown-second-homeowners.html

    A clampdown on second homeowners has been announced by the Welsh Government in a move that could lead to similar measures elsewhere in Britain.

    Wales is tripling the maximum amount of council tax that such homeowners can be charged amid concerns that holiday home demand is driving house prices up rapidly.

    The cap is being raised from its current level of 100 per cent, an amount that was paid on more than 23,000 second homes and long-term empty properties.

  16. Did your read in the financial press headlines that so much of the high flyer companies were in trouble? I though so – NO!

    High-growth tech stocks were already getting pummeled before Russian’s invasion of the Ukraine. The skid has only gotten worse.

    “The mood of the market right is real foul right now for good reasons,” Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman told CNBC’s “Mad Money” last week.

    The selloff has hit cloud software, e-commerce, fintech and consumer devices.

    Snowflake is more than 50% off its 52-week high reached in November. That makes the company a relative safe haven compared to wide swaths of the tech industry. Numerous stocks have lost at least three-quarters of their value since peaking in late 2021, and some well-known names are down 90% or more.

    CNBC pulled a list of tech and tech-adjacent companies currently valued at $1 billion or more that have lost at least 75% of their value from their 52-week highs. Here are 10 of the most notable companies.


    https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/07/here-are-10-of-the-worst-performing-tech-stocks-from-recent-washout.html

      1. Wish — discount mobile commerce
        Robinhood — stock trading app
        StitchFix — personal fashion shopping service subscription
        Peloton — exercise bikes
        Affirm — buy now pay later service
        Opendoor — real estate flipper
        Roku — streaming service
        Wix — website development
        Redfin — real estate flipper
        Toast — seller of restaurant hardware which somehow morphed into contactless payments
        (CNBC also mentions Snowflake –cloud data analytics vendor)

        In other words, unnecessary companies with cutesy names. All of these companies could disappear tomorrow and nobody would notice. It feels like the 90s all over again.

  17. ‘I hear more and more I think I’ll just get out of it, this just isn’t worth it anymore.’”

    Gosh, who knew there would be unintended consequences of gun’mint overreach and Democrat-Bolshevik enabling of parasitism & freeloading.

  18. Oh dear….

    Chinese Tycoon Behind Big Nickel Short Faces Billions in Losses

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-08/chinese-tycoon-behind-big-nickel-short-faces-billions-in-losses?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google&sref=ibr3A0ff

    A Chinese tycoon who built a massive short position in nickel futures is facing billions of dollars in mark-to-market losses after the metal surged more than 170% in two days, according to people familiar with the matter.

    Xiang Guangda — who controls the world’s largest nickel producer, Tsingshan Holding Group Co., and is known as “Big Shot” in Chinese commodity circles — has closed out part of his company’s short position and is considering whether to exit the wager altogether, the people said. Nickel rocketed to a record high above $100,000 a ton on Tuesday, driven in part by Tsingshan and its brokers’ activity, before trading was suspended.

    1. This system is clearly broken. Only in an environment of disgustingly repulsive money printing to you get such wild distortions.

    1. The Guardian — Confessions of a former pandemic shamer (3/8/2022):

      “at a time when so many were talking about what new forms of caring for each other could look like, there didn’t seem room for a harm-reduction approach for how to engage with people making decisions that felt aberrant to “What Was Currently Acceptable To Be Doing”. Did we pause to make sure all our definitions were the same, to assemble a glossary and add in the necessary asterisks, to ask who could be doing what was “acceptable” and who decided what that term meant? Who was the arbiter, and who granted exceptions?”

      https://archive.ph/6HBoq

      That is a Mass Formation Psychosis.

      This person will never function in society again.

    2. “I’m concerned that we don’t have enough evidence yet that this is going to become completely endemic and then we’ll end up with another wave and we’ll have lots of cases, lots of deaths,” Craig Watts, a service desk technician at the University of Colorado system, said.

      Another fear addict. Probably wears a mask while he showers.

      1. completely endemic and then we’ll end up with another wave

        Does that kind of logical disconnect hurt much?

    3. “At this moment, it’s safer to come back to the office than at virtually any time since the start of the pandemic,” Dr. Newman said. “What I’ve been telling employers is, we’re at a point of time where they can relax, but stay vigilant, because we really don’t know what the future will hold.”

      Funny, how the number of jabbed hasn’t really changed, yet we went from “it’s the end if the world” to “it’s safer to come back to the office than at virtually any time since the start of the pandemic”, just like that.

        1. The winter of death is almost over.

          Was there ever really one? I ask because I still don’t know anyone who was in an ICU since this scam began.

          I know people who had the coof, and their experiences mostly match my own: not that big a deal. Yeah, we were sick and took a few days off from work. It’s not like I’ve never done that before.

          As I recovered and volunteered to resume work, my boss told there was no rush. “Well, if you insist, I could handle a few more days off”. The poor guy thought I was going to die.

        2. My sister caught the Woohoo a month ago from her roommate – a 36 year old woman who was jabbed. My unjabbed sister had about 4 hours of the chills. The 36 year old woman is having heart problems.

          1. I’m 40, 25 BMI and healthy, unjabbed, spent 10 days in hospital after my o2 dropped into the 80%. Corona complications rare but real, very real. I asked the dr at hospital, why me? He said bad luck basically. I wish I had gotten monoclonal antibodies those seem to work good, but I’m white, heathy and not elderly so the hospital told me to go home the first time I showed up. No chance for any ivermectin in my neck of the woods with the libs in charge of this city. I survived mostly ok but I wouldn’t want it again. I’m the only person most people know who was hospitalized

          2. Covid is a symptomatic crapshoot. My wife kids all had it, none with serious cases. My BP was at the highest levels of my life for two straight months after the acute symptoms ended. I finally got some BP meds to control it. My doctor wouldn’t diagnose the BP spike as due to COVID-19, but the data certainly suggest it.

  20. Who knew debt-fueled “growth” and “creating shareholder value” wasn’t the path to endless prosperity?

    ‘I Had Nothing to My Name’: Amazon Delivery Companies Are Being Crushed by Debt

    https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdbnw/i-had-nothing-to-my-name-amazon-delivery-companies-are-being-crushed-by-debt

    Across the country, Amazon’s delivery service partners, the small businesses that exclusively deliver packages for Amazon, are going tens of thousands of dollars into the negative.

      1. Virtually every product for sale some website other than Amazon. Just type in some other web address. That easy. The other sites want your money too. I stopped using Amazon long ago.

    1. The FED thought they could jawbone inflation down. That’s not how it works. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so sinister. Jay Powell still has a job why?

    2. It’s hard to separate gold’s inflation hedge value from it’s refugee currency value.

    1. So what will the banking clan do when the nukes start flying? Rush off to Kiwiland? What if the ChiComs get there first?

  23. “owned by a semi-celebrity Miami broker ”

    “semi-celebrity!? ” I suppose that’s next seasons dancing with the stars wannabe.
    I think I saw my 4th grade teacher on the show year. and the clerk at WinCo looked awfully familiar . . .

    1. a semi-celebrity Miami broker

      Is that a realtor who places ads on supermarket shopping carts? I also remember seeing those ads at the cinema, before the show began. It was a couple standing back to back with their arms crossed, can’t remember their names or what their tag line was. Haven’t seen their ad for a long time. Maybe they got divorced?

    2. owned by a semi-celebrity Miami broker ”
      I saw a news trailer while in Raleigh that said there are currently 7 UHS people for every home on the market in Raleigh. (Data includes Durham as well, I believe but not positive).

  25. No need to worry about not being able to get to work because of $6 a gallon gas or buy food for your family amidst soaring food prices on sparsely stocked grocery shelves, all you have to do is,,,

    “imagine a future” with electric vehicles.”

    “That’s why we’re here today,” Harris continued. “Because we have the ability to see what can be unburdened by what has been and then to make the possible actually happen.”

    Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg slammed for ‘tone-deaf’ e-vehicle push as gas skyrockets

    By Steven Nelson
    March 7, 2022

    Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were criticized Monday for a “tone-deaf” event focused on promoting electric buses as gas prices soared for most Americans.

    Harris asked her audience to “imagine a future” with electric vehicles.

    “Imagine a future: the freight trucks that deliver bread and milk to our grocery store shelves and the buses that take children to school and parents to work. Imagine all the heavy-duty vehicles that keep our supply lines strong and allow our economy to grow. Imagine that they produce zero emissions. Well, you all imagined it,” she said.

    Harris announced the release of $1.5 billion to local transit authorities for electric buses.

    “Our transportation sector has reached a turning point. We are all in the midst of a turning point,” Harris said. “We have the technology to transition to a zero-emission fleet. Our administration together, all of us, is working to make that possibility a reality.”

    “We can clean our air and protect the health of our children. We can connect all our communities for affordable, accessible, and reliable public transportation. We can address the climate crisis and grow our economy at the same time,” she continued.

    https://nypost.com/2022/03/07/kamala-harris-pete-buttigieg-slammed-amid-high-gas-prices/

    1. “imagine a future” with electric vehicles.”

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZBHits8JPI

      Imagining is easy. “Doing” is something else entirely different. Of course these ding dongs think that if they mandate something, that it will happen.

      The only thing I imagine when these idiots talk is everyone, except for the “people who matter”, riding a bus, pedaling a bicycle or walking.

    2. I’m with the project manager today out here troubleshooting some 277 volt lighting circuits that are still hot.

      Where did that electricity come from?

      In this part of Region VIII, probably from burning coal.

      Your electric vehicle will get its electricity from burning coal.

      2. “Your electric vehicle will get its electricity from burning coal.”

        Shhhhh

        Be vewy vewy quiet.

        The Wibiwals want people to think the ewctwicity comes from wind mills, solar panels and Unicorn flatulence. Hahahaha

        https://youtu.be/uM8h22DeTbA

      3. There will be some awful wailing and gnashing of teeth ahead from the climate change lobby, as Vlad reminds us all that we live in a fossil-fuel dependent world.

    3. Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

      Do both of these travel only in electric vehicles?

    4. “We can clean our air and protect the health of our children. We can connect all our communities for affordable, accessible, and reliable public transportation. We can address the climate crisis and grow our economy at the same time,” she continued.

      A children’s fairy tale for children and idiots

    1. Europe News
      Russia warns of $300 oil, threatens to cut off European gas if West bans energy imports
      Published Tue, Mar 8 2022 4:10 AM EST
      Updated An Hour Ago
      Sam Meredith
      Key Points
      – “It is absolutely clear that a rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Monday in an address on state television.
      – “The surge in prices would be unpredictable. It would be $300 per barrel if not more.”
      – His comments come with Russia’s onslaught of Ukraine well into its second week, with the already dire humanitarian crisis expected to worsen as the Kremlin continues its invasion.
      Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak chairs an OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting via a video link-up.
      Alexei Maishev | Tass | Getty Images

      Russia has threatened to close a major gas pipeline to Germany and warned of $300 oil prices if the West goes ahead with a ban on its energy exports.

      “It is absolutely clear that a rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Monday in an address on state television.

      “The surge in prices would be unpredictable. It would be $300 per barrel if not more.”

      Novak also cited Germany’s decision last month to halt the certification of the highly contentious Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, saying: “We have every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.”

      “So far, we are not taking such a decision,” Novak said. “But European politicians with their statements and accusations against Russia push us towards that.”
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/russia-warns-of-300-oil-if-ban-goes-ahead-threatens-to-cut-off-european-gas.html

      2. $225 tops followed by a hard crash into the $70’s or $80’s as they restart those dormant and impractical deep sea oil rigs off the coast of Brazil. We saw this before in 2007 or around then when oil surged as the last gasp of the bubble before it exploded.

        1. So many swarmie expert predicters.

          Last time things fell apart when oil hit $100. I’d say we’re already pretty well fooked.

          1. What does a barrel of oil cost in Roubles?

            1 United States Dollar =
            133.17 Russian Ruble

    2. Ya gotta hand it to the Russians for being the masters of issuing Evil Empire threats to the West. Voldemort has nothing on Putin and his deputies.

      1. he masters of issuing Evil

        Has anyone asked him what his demands are? I mean IRL, not in a children’s fantasy.

  28. Biden is out telling the same lies Jen Psaki was telling yesterday that we now have the highest oil production ever.

    According to David Asman Fox Business channel

    Dec. 2019 12.9 million barrels a day

    Dec. 2021 11.5 million barrels a day

    1.5 million barrel a day drop from the Trump administration

    Listening to them one would think gas was $2 a gallon before Russia went into Ukraine. Gas and oil spiked as soon as Brandon took office and blaming it all on Russia is B.S.

    1. Biden is out telling the same lies Jen Psaki was telling yesterday that we now have the highest oil production ever.

      The gaslighting has become pathetic. What’s next? The chocolate ration has increased by 20g?

      1. In my little corner of the economy, we can’t get lights delivered. We can complete a job 95%, and we’re forced to tell our customer that the lights are “only a month to six weeks away from getting here.”

        People are trying to sign leases for commercial office and warehouse and light industrial spaces (positive signs for the economy). But we can’t get lights, nobody can get lights without a significant delay.

        At least there’s no more mean tweets now, right?

        “They’re not sending their best”

    2. The speech writer slipped a fast one in there. I listened carefully to Brandon, and he said his first year vs T’s first year. I doubt many would catch that mumbly slider.

      FJB

      1. “and he said his first year vs T’s first year.”

        I heard Psaki say that yesterday but I didn’t hear Brandon say it today. I’m not saying he didn’t say it, just that I didn’t hear it. But to your point, the speech or propaganda writer definitely intentionally slipped a fast one in there.

      2. Chart of US field crude oil production (thousands of bbl/day):
        https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mcrfpus2&f=a

        2016: 8844
        2017: 9357
        2018: 10941
        2019: 12289
        2020: 11283
        2021: 11185

        So, this is puzzling. The drop in 2020 can be explained: frackers shut off wells in April 2020 when demand went over a cliff. And I guess in 2021 Brandon just never allowed those wells to turn back on even when demand came back. That little bit of supply disruption was enough to skyrocket prices. Speculation?

    1. Biden to announce a ban on US imports of Russian energy

      The United States imports about 700,000 barrels per day of Russian crude and petroleum products.

      By Annmarie Hordern and Jennifer Jacobs and Saleha MohsinBloomberg

      Published On 8 Mar 2022
      8 Mar 2022

      The ban will include Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal, according to two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The decision was made in consultation with European allies, who rely more heavily than the U.S. on Russian energy, another person said.

      https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/3/8/biden-to-announce-a-ban-on-us-imports-of-russian-energy

    2. Biden says no more Russian oil.

      This going to be fun. Who will the FedGov hire to manage the gasoline rationing program? It will need to come online pronto. IBM? Microsoft? Amazon? Google/Alphabet, Oracle? (not likely, the FedGov doesn’t seem to like Big Red)

    3. no more Russian oil.
      I drove past a gas station on the way to run some copies off. 3.99/gallon On the way home $$4.19/gallon.

    1. Modern wheat production is very oil intensive.

      And Ukraine was once known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union for its grain production. Now it’s more of a basket case.

  32. 0:35

    Joe Biden predicted in 1997 that giving NATO membership to Baltic states would make Russia angry

    https://youtu.be/dNgCwoaT9u4

    46 Comments

    JAllanC12
    4 hours ago

    Well this aged… not well for Biden

    And now for a comment from a leftist fact checker

    Jem Mejidov
    2 hours ago

    He said, he doesnt think “militarily”

    1. “Joe Biden predicted in 1997 that giving NATO membership to Baltic states would make Russia angry”

      This foreign policy blunder is 100% President Biden’s and Secretary of State Blinken’s fault. These two own the corpses and destruction in Ukraine.

      “The Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted from two immense strategic blunders: The first came on Nov. 10, when the U.S. and Ukraine signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership, which asserted America’s support for Kyiv’s right to pursue membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The pact made it likelier than ever that Ukraine would eventually join NATO—an intolerable prospect for Vladimir Putin. The November 2021 agreement added heft to looser assurances Ukraine received at a NATO summit in June 2021 that membership would be open to the country if it met the alliance’s criteria.” —WSJ

  33. Interesting discussion: Offensive Realism; Strategic Empathy; and, LOTS of charts.

    Barnes and Baris Episode 51: What Are the Odds?

    “What Are the Odds?” with Robert Barnes and Rich Baris RETURNS for EPISODE II of SEASON II, offering unrivaled coverage of—and commentary on—Ukraine v. Russia, the 2022 Midterm Elections, the Public Polling Project, Betting Markets, and more!

    1. Strategic Empathy

      Robert Barnes eloquently articulates the importance of understanding an opponent’s perspective, in this case Putin, and that that understanding should by no means be equated with condonation.

    1. The Financial Times
      Oil & Gas industry
      Oil industry pleads with Wall Street to stop holding back investment
      Spending cuts are exacerbating price shock caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, say executives
      Tengku Muhammad Taufik speaks at an event
      Tengku Muhammad Taufik, chief executive of state-owned Petronas of Malaysia, said financial institutions ‘need to shepherd us, not beat us into submission’
      © Bloomberg
      Myles McCormick, Justin Jacobs and Derek Brower in Houston yesterday

      Oil industry chiefs have called on Wall Street to stop holding back investment in new crude supply as “chaos” and “bedlam” threaten to overwhelm energy markets amid fears the west will ban Russian oil exports following the invasion of Ukraine.

      A surge in the international oil price to $139 a barrel on Monday has sparked fears that the rally could damage the global economy. Speaking at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, oil executives pinned some of the blame on their investors.

      “Investors have been telling [oil companies] not to invest so much. Well, this is a crisis, we should be investing more,” said John Hess, chief executive of Hess Corp, a big US shale oil producer. “We’ve had five years of under-investment and we’re paying for it now.”
      …

    2. Kiplinger
      Stock Market Today:
      Stocks Suffer Whiplash After Russian Energy Ban
      The market went round-trip on Tuesday, bouncing from modest losses to significant gains before slipping back into the red.
      by: Kyle Woodley
      March 8, 2022
      Excited children and a scared older man on a roller coaster
      Getty Images

      Mr. Market’s roller-coaster ride continued apace Tuesday, as indications that the U.S. would ban the import of Russian energy became real.

      https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/604328/stock-market-today-030822-stocks-suffer-whiplash-russian-energy-ban

  35. The burning question of the day: Does Greta know about this?

    European Union To Phase Out Russian Oil And Gas As It Seeks Energy Independence  | ZeroHedge
    https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/european-union-phase-out-russian-oil-and-gas-it-seeks-energy-independence

    (snip snip)

    “Goldman noted today that Europe should ‘shift its short-term focus from decarbonization to energy security, likely relying for now on more coal, more nuclear, and gas generation, and overall allowing for more carbon emissions.’ And by doing so, this will need to be a world effort.”

    How dare they!

    Bahahahahahahahahahaha … what a bunch of ignorant pukes.

  36. From the horse’s mouth.

    https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1501313109520175104: Ukraine has “biological research facilities,” says Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, when asked by Sen Rubio if Ukraine has biological or chemical weapons, and says she’s worried Russia may get them. But she says she’s 100% sure if there’s a biological attack, it’s Russia.

      1. Only 2 minutes in and this is extremely creepy.

        Once again, Bitchute for the win. Corporate social media and video platforms have nothing I want or need.

      2. What was Hunter Biden doing in Ukraine? What was he dealing in? These questions need to be answered. Hunter Biden needs to be investigated.

        1. This is why you should NEVER trust Wikipedia – a purveyor of globalist spin and lies:

          The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of unevidenced claims centered on the false allegation that while Joe Biden was vice president of the United States, he engaged in corrupt activities relating to the employment of his son Hunter Biden by the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.[1] They were spread primarily in an attempt to damage Joe Biden’s reputation during the 2020 presidential campaign.[2] United States intelligence community analysis released in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about the Bidens “to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration.

          1. Hunter was doing nothing at all. It was a bribe. And now the Ukrainians are calling that debt due as we are on the brink of WWIII. And we unfortunately doing all we can.

    1. I like this Archbishop . He isn’t exact taking the position the Globalist Pope is. He also grasped the vaccine situation and was calling for children to not
      be vaccinated.

  38. This is the Democrat Party.

    When Joe Biden spoke into a microphone and said “I am the Democrat Party” this is what he meant. And bonus points because this is also why NATO wants to drag the United States into World War Three:

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/disturbing-leftist-activist-organizes-sex-ed-summer-camps-8-10-year-olds-indiana-will-teach-using-condoms-insertables-explore-sensations-discover-feels-good/

    It’s a Democrat Party thing. They’re not “your” children, they’re the property / sex slaves of the Democrat Party. This is the Democrat Party.

  39. Hubby just rented out a 1250sf 3bd/2ba in Chula Vista for $3600 to a family with 3kids and a MIL! Other people were offering to pay more but he goes with first qualified application submitted. Inventory is low as lanlords are selling.

  40. One of these things is not like the other.

    ‘What’s interesting now is they’re paying over market value, and they’re actually increasing value in the marketplace, so there’s some good to these things happening, but there’s some bad to these things as well,’

    1. so there’s some good to these things happening,
      For the tax authorities. heirs of people dying and some people selling, good things, for most people, not so much.

  41. Leaders in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) declined calls with President Biden as the war in Ukraine intensified, Middle East and U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

    “There was some expectation of a phone call, but it didn’t happen,” a U.S. official told the Journal regarding a call between Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “It was part of turning on the spigot [of Saudi oil].”

    This time, they refused to talk with him. They snubbed Brandon. So … will he yield and get out of the way of domestic oil producers, or can we look forward to $10 gas?

  43. Putin will sell his oil to China, India and Turkey. All Biden did was continue to punish the American middle class.

    1. Putin will sell his oil to China

      When there is a global commodities market, it doesn’t matter much who the buyers are. There is no monopoly.

  44. Elitist douche bag Stephen Colbert who drives $150k Tesla and makes $15 million a year says a clean conscience is worth a buck or two a gallon.

    Tom Elliott
    @tomselliott
    .@StephenAtHome: “Today, the average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4/gallon. OK, that stings, but a clean conscience is worth a buck or two. It’s important. I’m willing to pay $4/gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon b/c I drive a Tesla”

    https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1501158360368001026?s=20&t=GBDZqqM8KOw6QJTVkIOkwQ

    1. Sure would be a shame if 4chan published a description of Colbert’s car and his home address, and somebody decided to follow him home and pistol whip and rob him in his own driveway.

      Sure would be a shame, wouldn’t it now 🙁

  45. This is a medical genocide article.

    The Guardian — Florida vaccine plan for children denounced as ‘irresponsible and reckless (3/8/2022):

    “Health experts have widely denounced Florida’s decision to recommend against Covid-19 vaccinations for children, describing it as “irresponsible”, “reckless” and “dangerous”.

    In a pronouncement which stunned experts on Monday, Florida’s controversial surgeon general Dr Joseph Ladapo said the state would be the first to “recommend against” Covid-19 vaccination for “healthy children”.

    The move goes against accepted advice from federal health authorities and a large majority of independent experts, who recommend vaccines as a powerful tool to protect children from the worst outcomes of Covid-19.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/08/florida-children-vaccination-coronavirus

    We already knew that raping kids is a Democrat Party thing.

    Poisoning kids is a Democrat Party thing too.

    This is the Democrat Party.

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