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The Risks Of Real Estate Bubbles Caused By Rumors And Herd Instinct

A report from Banking Dive. “Wells Fargo has begun laying off an undisclosed number of its home lending employees, little more than a week after reporting mortgage origination volume had dropped 33% year over year, the bank confirmed Friday. Anonymous posts on the discussion board The Layoff indicate job cuts hit at least five markets — Phoenix; San Antonio; Minneapolis; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Des Moines, Iowa. ‘Processing, underwriting, and credit administration teams were notified ‘their position would be eliminated because of the changing mortgage market,’ one commenter wrote. ‘They were given a 2 week notice.'”

The Detroit News. “The country’s largest lender is looking to reduce its workforce amid a shrinking mortgage market following two years of record loan volume. Officials said Monday that Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage and Amrock, its title company, are offering voluntary buyouts to 8% of employees. Rocket Companies, which includes Rocket Mortgage, employs 26,000, mostly in Detroit.”

“‘Over that time, we have been through several market cycles — similar to those the industry is experiencing today,’ Mike Malloy, chief administrative officer at Rocket Central, said in a statement Monday. ‘As a result of today’s market, some team members have told us they are considering a move to another position or a completely different industry.'”

From WKYC on Ohio. “It’s a statistic that you don’t want to lead. The Greater Cleveland metro area is now topping the nation in foreclosures. In metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 people, Cleveland leads the way in foreclosures with one in every 535 housing units affected. Realtor Joe Zingales beleves more are on the way. ‘But it will not collapse the market, And it will not be, in my humble opinion, what it was like in 2009, 10, and 11,’ he says.”

The Arizona Republic. “When Deborah Torzone saw the Arizona Department of Housing was launching a mortgage assistance program late last year, she thought she finally had found reprieve from her pandemic employment struggles. Representatives from Chase told her not to worry about the automated calls, but she did and wondered what effect they would have on her credit score. ‘Everybody keeps changing the rules. Meanwhile, I’m dropping down a big deep hole,’ Torzone said.”

From KRON in California. “Bidding wars in the San Francisco real estate market were down in March compared to one year ago, according to a new report that suggests that homebuyer demand in the Bay Area and elsewhere is starting to cool. ‘March was the first month in two years that I had a weekend with zero house tours. People are getting priced out,’ said Maria Giron, a Redfin real estate agent in the Bay Area. ‘Some buyers are in shock and dropping out altogether. Others are looking at more affordable options.'”

The Vancouver Sun in Canada. “Homebuyers are showing less urgency and shifting their approach to making purchases as one economist forecasts that a rapid rise in interest rates will see prices in expensive markets such as B.C. drop. ‘There is definitely a slowdown now. I can sense it. I can feel it,’ said One Flat Fee real estate agent Mayur Arora, who has clients in both Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. ‘Markets are driven by sentiment, and now the sentiment is toward a slowdown.'”

“He said there is generally less optimism among would-be buyers, leading to hesitation over whether prices may be lowered if there are fewer or no bids. ‘Before, people would ask, ‘What do I have to do to get this property?’ And now it is, ‘Let’s wait for a few days for a price drop and then we can move forward.’ ‘A few weeks ago, it used to be open house on the weekend and then offers on the Monday or Tuesday, with a guaranteed sale. Now, it is private showings and hugely reduced open house traffic, with no guarantee of an offer.'”

From Motley Fool. “We are finally seeing signs that Canada’s housing bubble is starting to burst. StatCan released housing market data showing that the average Canadian house price declined sequentially in March. The culprit, it would seem, is higher interest rates. There are some signs that a real estate correction may be occurring in Canada’s big cities. Some real estate brokers are reporting substantially lower selling prices in Toronto’s North York area, and there are similar reports from other cities as well.”

The Vietnam Express. “As prices rise and fall rapidly amid rumors of future development in a ‘fever’ spreading across Vietnam, some people are becoming rich overnight and others are falling into debt. Hanoi real estate broker Hoang Hiep has been visiting the suburban district of Soc Son almost every day for the last three months as customers have been increasingly asking about property there. New brokerage offices have been mushrooming around Soc Son since the beginning of this year. ‘I myself have made large profits from my investments here in the last few months, so I know there are still opportunities,’ Hiep says.”

“In the central province of Ha Tinh, where land prices in some areas have risen by 20 times since 2019, the low-income family of Tran Thi Lan has been able to obtain VND1.9 billion ($83,065) for their 1,800-square-meter piece of land. She says: ‘I never thought this piece of land would be priced that high. When I held the cash, my hands shook and I was crying.'”

“In Hanoi’s Hoai Duc District, Minh Huyen saw her apartment value rise by 20 percent in three months and sold it in January, abandoning her initial plan to rent it out. ‘There are many opportunities for more profit and so I sold it to buy a plot of land,’ she says.”

“But not all investors succeed in making money. Nguyen Minh Khang, CEO of real estate developer LDG Group, estimates that around 80 percent of land speculators are likely to end up with losses as demand subsides as quickly as it rises. Hoang Minh in the central province of Thanh Hoa is one such loser. He bought several plots of land in the province for around VND1 billion each in March last year, borrowing a third of the money from friends and family.”

“The prices he paid were 40 percent higher than just a month earlier, but by mid-April they had fallen by double digits as the number of inquiries dropped. Minh cannot sell except at a big loss, so he has been holding on to them, along with the debts, hoping for another jump in prices in future.”

“Officials from the Ministry of Construction have warned localities about the risks of real estate bubbles caused by rumors of developments and herd instinct, which could cause social disruptions. But Vu Cong is unfazed by these warnings and sees his recent purchase of a piece of land in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District for VND80 million per square meter as a timely investment. ‘Dong Anh could become a city within a city in a few years, so I will surely make more money.'”

From Bloomberg. “HSBC Holdings Plc, the largest foreign bank in China, warned of further potential hits from the nation’s battered real estate market as defaults continue to climb amid a worsening Covid outbreak. ‘It’s a big call to say that we’ve seen the worst,’ Ewen Stevenson, HSBC’s chief financial officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. ‘Do I think that there could be further provisions this year? Yes, it’s possible.'”

“The London-based bank took a $160 million provision against China commercial real estate in the first quarter, on top of a $450 million charge in the previous quarter. HSBC had $21.3 billion of exposure to China’s property sector as of Dec. 31, and Stevenson said that the portfolio is under control for the time being.”

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This Post Has 117 Comments

  3. ‘Cleveland leads the way in foreclosures with one in every 535 housing units affected’

    I saw there are a bunch of areas with similar numbers. These are getting close to last decade defaults. Anything under 1000 is big. BTW, attom will say 1% default rate is normal. That’s horsesh$t. Do you know what the highest default rate was last decade? Under 3%.

        1. A few words from the Chief. 🙂

          Chief Nocahoma, “Thanks For the Memories!”

          10,017 views
          Apr 20, 2019

          22 Comments

          Craftsman673
          5 months ago

          Great times Chief… Thank You!
          Let’s Go Braves!
          Let’s Go Brandon!

          https://youtu.be/snHrHwo661k

  4. The Biden administration on Monday reversed a Trump administration plan that would have allowed the government to lease more than two-thirds of the country’s largest swath of public land to oil and gas drilling.

    You will have your bike stolen at work.

  5. House in my neighborhood went up for sale a week ago. Next to nothing for sale in my area.

    Top ten schools. Nice subdivision.

    Asking a competitive price.

    Open house last week was a circus. Showings daily.

    Zero offers.

    I’m shocked. But they listed right when rates hit 5.25%.

    Wonder if that’s taking a bite out of the buying. Lol.

    1. Some months ago, I told youse guyz about a grandma-finally-died house that had degenerated to where it needed massive major work. (bad windows/doors, bad roof, half the siding shot, a foot of water in the basement, original Cold War kitchen and bath, driveway crumbled into gravel, overgrown yard.

      Well, a guy with a sexi-truk and some rotating helpers have been working on it all winter and it’s ready to sell — for $200K more than he bought it for. Yes, he put another (illegal) bedroom in the basement, but wow. He stands to make $100K profit. And I don’t live in a million-dollar neighborhood.

      (I’ve been getting mailings, cold calls and cold texts from people wanting to buy my house, no matter the condition. Now I see why.)

      1. Well, a guy with a sexi-truk and some rotating helpers have been working on it all winter and it’s ready to sell ”

        I wonder how many short cuts they took ? Electrical panel changed ? Plumbing changed ? Drain lines replaced ?

        1. **”Well, a guy with a sexi-truk and some rotating helpers have been working on it all winter and it’s ready to sell ”

          HAHA ! when I mentioned this same thing last housing cycle circa 2008 (parade of beer-belly F-3fiddy dually-driving khaki-trousers clipboard-totin’ estimates reflecting skilled craftsmen but reality is a parking-lot-illegal-crew) some a-hole got butt hurt & called me a “Home Depot Harry” or some other comment.

          I’m sure in his drunk-before-noon mind he thought it was a funny insult. Nah!

          wonder how many times he filed bankruptcy after burning through marriages, while evading child support working for cash?

          next time you see him in the strip club, ask him. easy to spot: 50-60yr old goatee-wearing fat azz nursing a beer & grudge

  6. I love a good bloodbath:

    ‘Trucking demand is “near freight recession levels,” according to Bank of America. Shippers’ outlook on rates, capacity and inventory levels are matching attitudes not seen since May and June 2020, when pandemic lockdowns sent freight volumes into a historic decline.’

    ‘In a Friday note to investors, Ken Hoexter, the managing director of Bank of America’s trucking research, wrote that shippers’ view of demand is down 23% year-over-year. The proprietary Truckload Demand Indicator hit 58 — the lowest since June 2020. ‘

    ‘Hoexter said the shippers’ view of rates have “melt(ed) down,” hitting a low not seen since May 2020. Bank of America’s survey represented views from 44 shippers in industries including retail, consumer goods and manufacturing.’

    ‘Meanwhile, these shippers are finding it easy to find capacity to move their loads; outlook on capacity hit its highest level since June 2020. They also noted their view on inventory levels had climbed to its highest point since May 2020.’

    ‘A few anecdotal examples from the Bank of America survey illustrate that data. One food shipper said it was receiving more cold calls from freight brokers rather than those brokers having to seek capacity for shipments on their own. A shipper moving home-building products said flatbed capacity is loosening slightly, though is still tight. And a representative of a forest products company said rates were beginning to soften as truck capacity opened up.’

    Other indicators are pointing to freight recession

    ‘FreightWaves has previously reported that a “sharp, painful downturn” in the U.S. trucking market is coming. The Friday note to investors is the latest indicator of the trucking bloodbath that many in the industry are spotting.’

    https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bank-of-america-is-sounding-the-alarm-on-collapsing-freight-demand

      1. glad i stocked up on 100+ cans of fancy feast cat food…for some reason, all they have left is fishy stuff and my cat doesn’t like it.. tuna is fine but not whitefish or salmon

      2. “I don’t need nasal swabs delivered by the palette anymore”

        I see the price of real 3M N95 masks has dropped too!

        1. just left the citrus heights Lowes (LOOK: I actually mentioned specifically WHERE, instead of the super-secret y’all-might-find-me & my-millions “where I live”)
          and the store was bursting with inventory.
          piled up in the aisles.
          just everywhere.

          it was early but few customers.

          I made a comment with my inside voice out loud to the effect of ” looks like all those ships stuck in port finally got unloaded by the overpaid-lazy-azzed longshoremen” . .

          got a chuckle out of few old soft dementia geezers (self included) wandering around looking for the key machine.

          2. Worrying about being “doxxed” is a pointless waste of energy. If someone knows your name, he can find your home address, phone number, and email address in about 5 minutes using the internet. I’ve even found the addresses of some pretty high profile people (Barry Soetoro on Martha’s Vineyard is one example), so who cares?

  7. ‘‘Before, people would ask, ‘What do I have to do to get this property?’

    Winnahs!

    ‘Now, it is private showings and hugely reduced open house traffic, with no guarantee of an offer’

    Oh dear…

  8. “Hillbilly Elegy” author & Congressional Candidate J.D. Vance calls for an investigation of the corrupt FBI leadership. It’s about time.

    Calling J6 a “terrorist attack” is just insane. And from 60 Minutes, nothing about the FBI entrapment in Michigan or the fact that the bureau colluded with the media to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story. Time to investigate the corrupt leadership of this organization.

    https://twitter.com/JDVance1/status/1518921815720091648

      1. ** “private showings ..”

        you guys are killing me. KILLING ME!! haha
        now i gotta go take another blood pressure pill.
        i think its the green one.

  11. ‘As a result of today’s market, some team members have told us they are considering a move to another position or a completely different industry’

    Time to take those rented phones and coffee makers back Mike.

  12. Remember that German guy who said HSBC is already insolvent?

    ‘It’s a big call to say that we’ve seen the worst…Do I think that there could be further provisions this year? Yes, it’s possible’

    Yer fooked Ewen.

    1. What next? Will the banksters trot out their BS about systemic risk, too-big-to-fail, and contagion, in order to grease the skids for bailouts?

  14. From the San Francisco piece: “March was the first month in two years that I had a weekend with zero house tours.”

    Mortgage rates haven’t been above 5% since 2010, and now it’s the end of the world as we know it.

    1. You can tour the homeless encampments though. And the needle exchange programs in the fresh open air of SF….Winning!

    2. It’s also the dawning of a new day, as the prospect of affordable housing IN OUR TIME suddenly looks realistic.

  15. ‘Twitter Inc. locked down changes to its social networking platform through Friday after accepting a $44 billion bid from billionaire Elon Musk, making it harder for employees to make unauthorized changes, according to people familiar with the matter.’

    ‘Product changes will require approval from a vice president, the people said. Twitter imposed the temporary ban to keep employees who may be miffed about the deal from “going rogue,” according to one of the people.’

    ‘The move underscores Twitter’s bumpy road ahead as it transitions from a publicly held company to a private one owned by the controversial billionaire. Many of the company’s employees have been agitated about the idea of Musk taking charge and what changes may come.’

    ‘Musk, 50, is a prolific tweeter and has shared many ideas for the platform, including everything from adding an edit button to turning Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.’

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-locks-down-product-changes-195751959.html

    1. Quit posting on Twitter in 2015 bc even then their censorship sickened me. Then it got a whole lot worse. No thanks.

      1. I believe most “censorship” is the result of ‘flagging’ by other users. The problem with social media is their user base is fully comprised of intolerable people, so censorship will continue regardless of who’s in charge.

        1. Who gave the other users that power though? They could simply ignore the person. But that’s not good enough

      2. Actually, i liked my space because you could target your marketing and get friends or potential customers by zip code…for free.

    2. “Twitter imposed the temporary ban to keep employees who may be miffed about the deal from “going rogue,” according to one of the people.”

      I watched a YT clip last evening of a young female tech worker who a really upset with the end of censoring the platform indicating that under represented groups such as women need support. I was honestly surprised that she, clearly well educated, was totally “on-board” with censorship of alternative opinion.

      2. “under represented groups such as women need support. ”

        Stop being a snowflake and support yourself with your own strength and merit. If you don’t have any merit, go out and get some.

        1. **” Stop being a snowflake and support yourself with your own strength and merit. If you don’t have any merit, go out and get some.”

          that.is.effin.BRILLIANT!

          I’d like to copy, paste & send to every public school here in CA. hell, I’d actually like to tattoo it on their damn texting thumbs. giving you full, credit of course, oxide

          Brilliant

    3. “…turning Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.’”

      That is brilliant! What better way to highlight the failure of decades of California Democratic leadership than to marry high tech to the homeless community?

  16. there is a lot of unwinding to be done. But every bit gets the ball moving

    From before the interest rate increase: Home prices increased 19.8% in February year over year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index. That is up from the 19.1% annual increase in January and is the third-highest reading in the index’s 35-year history.

    The 10-city composite annual increase came in at 18.6%, up from 17.3% in the previous month. The 20-city composite was up 20.2%, up from 18.9% in the previous month.

    Sun Belt cities continued to see the highest gains. Phoenix, Tampa and Miami saw annual home price gains of 32.9% 32.6% and 29.7%, respectively. All 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending February 2022 versus the year ending January 2022.

    1. more:
      For a median-priced home financed with a 30-year loan, the monthly payment is $550 higher than a year ago, an increase of 46%, according to calculations by Realtor.com

      Prices historically tend to lag sales by about six months, and pending sales, which measure signed contracts, have been falling for four straight months through February, according to the National Association of Realtors. March’s reading will be released Wednesday.

      “As we move through the spring housing market, we are seeing clear signs of cooling demand. Many buyers are deciding to take a step back and re-evaluate their budgets and timelines,” added Ratiu.

      1. “For a median-priced home financed with a 30-year loan, the monthly payment is $550 higher than a year ago, an increase of 46%, according to calculations by Realtor.com”

        You do realize that the people who write these articles are highly paid idiots, don’t you?

    2. Like how in those Roadrunner cartoons where Wily Coyote overruns the edge of the cliff, his legs spin in the sky for a long moment before he drops to the canyon floor?

      1. Wile E. Coyote

        Not a spelling Nazi but a coyote deserves his name spelled properly. 🙂

  18. While mortgage rates began rising slowly at the start of this year, they didn’t really take off sharply higher until March. Given that this reading is a three-month running average through February, it doesn’t show much of an impact from rates. That could be coming next, though.

    “Today’s S&P Case Shiller Index highlights a housing market experiencing a renewed sense of urgency in February, as buyers worked through a small number of homes for sale in an effort to get ahead of surging mortgage rates. The imbalance between strong demand and insufficient supply pushed prices higher,” said George Ratiu, manager of economic research at Realtor.com

    You know, the kind of urgency you feel when you forget and eat habanero sauce while you are nursing a hemorrhoid the size of a VW beetle

    1. “You know, the kind of urgency you feel when you forget and eat habanero sauce while you are nursing a hemorrhoid the size of a VW beetle”

      🤣🤣🤣👍

  19. “White Star Line cruise passengers, this is your captain speaking. Temperatures may be brisk tonight; you may wish to dress warmly.”

  20. Torzone applied for about $20,000 in mortgage assistance on Nov. 5, days after the application portal opened. Months passed with no assistance.”

    Gee, I wonder why?

    “Meanwhile, her mortgage lender, Chase Bank, told her it would move to foreclose on her home unless she entered into a 40-year loan modification.”

    A 40 year loan modification, up from what?

    “She was only five years away from paying off her loan before the pandemic hit.”

    Bahahahahahaha … see? No dollar will be allowed to escape. Not one.

    1. “A 40 year loan modification”

      This is it! 40 year mortgage is already a reality, but will replace the 30-yr when this current crises ends.

    2. “Gee, I wonder why?”

      Well the serious answer is that Citi knew they would make far more bank on the foreclosure than on keeping her in the house. ESPECIALLY since she’s 5 years away from paying off the mortgage. At that point, they’ve already profited from the front-loaded interest, they’ve gotten most of the principle back, AND they’ll get her appreciation too. It’s a win for them and a Joshua-tree pounding for her…

      … UNLESS she sells. In fact the moment she realized that she’ll never get her old income back, she should have sold and Gone Oil City. On November 5, instead of applying for aid, she could have sold for over asking without doing a lick of repair, tossed out 90% of her stuff, taken the proceeds to relocate to a single-wide somewhere, and worked at TJMaxx until she hits Medicare/SS age (she looks close). Starting over might be scary, but it’s a lot easier when you have a couple hundred scratch to play with. Now she’s screwed.

  21. More Secret Gender Transition Closets Discovered in Public Schools

    ‘They started in colleges, but trans closets—rooms stocked with transgender clothes and accessories for students to change into after arriving to school and back out of before going home—are being discovered in public schools with some indication they are being kept a secret from parents.’

    ‘In a recent TikTok video, a California teacher implies that the trans closet he started at the high school where he works is meant to be kept from parents.’

    “The goal of the transition closet is for our students to wear the clothes that their parents approve of, come to school and then swap out into the clothes that fit who they truly are,” the teacher said.’

    ‘The California Family Council and others eventually confirmed the identity of the teacher as Oakland Unified School District Spanish teacher Thomas Martin-Edwards, who is also the founder of “Queer Teacher Fellowship.”

    ‘Martin-Edwards, the teacher who runs the trans closet, is also transgender. He has posted videos of himself in the classroom showing off the stilettos he wears to school.’

    ‘Another trans closet being operated out of the Denver Conservatory Green Middle School in Colorado was also recently posted about on social media. The Twitter post ignited a flurry of messages slamming the school for encouraging transgenderism among students as young as 12 years old.’

    “This is grooming,” tweeted one Colorado man, “Police should come to the classroom and arrest whoever the teacher is in this classroom.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/more-secret-gender-transition-closets-discovered-in-public-schools_4414184.html

    1. “Martin-Edwards, the teacher who runs the trans closet, is also transgender. He has posted videos of himself in the classroom showing off the stilettos he wears to school.”

      The K12 schools are not a platform for politicizing.

    3. Didn’t the Boy Scouts start giving out badges for make-up application after letting the homos take the boys into their homes, I mean harems, for “camping” trips?

  22. Russia is at WAR with NATO and there is now a real chance the conflict will turn NUCLEAR, Kremlin foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warns

    by Daily Mail
    April 26th 2022, 3:53 am

    Russia’s top diplomat has warned that NATO is now fighting a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and there is a ‘very serious’ risk the conflict could turn nuclear.

    Sergei Lavrov, speaking on Russian state TV last night, accused western leaders of risking a third world war by supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine with the goal of ‘wearing down the Russian army’ – an aim he described as an ‘illusion’.

    https://www.infowars.com/

    1. The war with NATO is an economic war, done in a shock and awe mode by the west. We thought that by now the Russian economy would have collapsed and Putin would have been deposed, and that the forces of globohomo would take over Moscow the way they subjugated Kiev years ago. Maybe even appoint a black trans pole dancer as Russia’s new “leader”.

      Instead Europe is still buying gas and oil from Russia, under Russia’s terms, while Germans are told by their green leadership to turn off the heat in their flats and to take cold showers to reduce imports. And high energy prices are pushing the west into a deep recession.

      Yeah, we’re “winning”

        1. It’s how we thought we would take Russia down. The Ukrainian invasion was just the pretext. Rewind the news to the beginning of the war. There was a lot of hubris back then on how Russia would fold under sanctions. No spare parts for your western airliners! We’re kicking you off of SWIFT, we won’t buy your gas or oil. No American junk food for you! Etc.

          It didn’t work, and it’s clear globo homo didn’t have a plan B, so now it’s all propaganda. The pole dancer has even been described a “the leader of the free world”. And the Ukrainian Nazis? Our media does a Stg. Schultz and says “I see nothing!”

          1. “No American junk food for you!”

            It would be more effective to airlift that stuff directly into Moscow.

          2. This is turning into a very serious mess–the kind that might end in a European war. With Biden and his stupid Sec of Defense shooting off their mouths about taking Russia down a few notches, all that is doing is pouring more gasoline of the fire.

          6. But it’s not going to be just “propaganda” for NATO, NWO pedos. Europe is going to come out of this more beat-up and bruised than Russia. The chickens are coming home to roost. Europe had everything going for it until the virulent left started corroding all of the prosperity gained since the end of the war.

            The USA is heading was heading that way, too, that is until Trump came along. And now we get front row seats to see how this drama ends.

        1. Not sure who the “ilk” is, but I never feared Trump popping off nukes. He used twitter and rallies to vent his rage. It’s the quiet ones you have to be scared of. (In fact I wonder if banning Trump from Twitter actually made him more dangerous; with no popular outlet to vent, it might have made him even more unstable.)

      1. Nice! I love that others have figured that Nuke Weapons are a hoax.

        Watch the old videos of cameras taking pictures of things being destroyed by Nukes. Ever notice that the cameras don’t get destroyed?

        Nukes be fake!

        1. It’s amazing how they were able to hide the “fake” atom bomb from Richard Feynman and Hans Bethe. And I thought Feynman’s tales in “Surely You’re Joking…” were so amusing and clever.

          It’s also amazing how those Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were able to fake those radiation exposures, illnesses and deaths. It’s almost as if those Japanese knew all about the deadly effects of atom bombs.

          That idiot who thinks the bomb was fake is the same idiot who stands down by the river and yells about how the World is coming to an end.

          1. Other way around, dude. It’s the alarmist crazies who think the world is coming to an end. The ones who think man-made climate change, viruses, and nuclear weapons are real.

    4. “there is now a real chance the conflict will turn NUCLEAR”

      How many more times can Putin play that card before he becomes ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’?

  25. As a US oligarch, Musk is sanctioned by the deep state. He knows that he is one SEC investigation, tax audit, sex scandal, pedo revelation etc… away from being sidelined.

    I guess they were worried that alternatives not under US control were emerging. It would be interesting to know what inspired the Twitter Board to do a complete 180 in less than a week.

    1. My understanding is the board is personally liable in this situation. You get a yuuge offer and pass it up or thwart it, hello lawyer bills for years. And they’d lose eventually anyway.

      1. Ok so VP Harris has tested positive for Covid, but claims she has no symptoms, according to T.V. news.

        Why don’t we just skip all this nonsense of bogus testing and just declare that everyone has Covid . , sick or not.
        Lockdowns, useless masks, vaccines, or any measure can’t stop getting a Covid positive test, and only being healthy is protection, but you still might get a Covid positive test.

        1. has tested positive for Covid, but claims she has no symptoms

          It’s just more “for the love of Pasteur, please get jabbed before it’s too late!”

          If she has no symptoms, then she isn’t sick. It’s pure Kabuki theater.

          Unless … she suddenly “dies of covid”. Then they replace her with someone who is squeaky clean, then Amendment 25 Brandon before the elections.

  27. “I have two brothers and one sister, my sister has three brothers and no sisters. When she was little I would tease her. I’d tell her you’re not really in this family you don’t have any sisters”

    “You never know what you have till it’s gone, I wanted to know what I had so I got rid of everything.”

    “You know when you’re sitting on a chair and you lean back so you’re just on two legs and you lean too far so you almost fall over but at the last second you catch yourself? I feel like that all the time…”

    ― Steven Wright

  28. Ok, so hear me out. I heard A biologist say one time
    that the ape tribes would tend to eliminate the overly aggressive psychopathic ape leader that would rise to power, because that ape wasn’t good for the collective.

    So, the biologist said that only 3 % of human population tests psychopath. So, the point was that in terms of evolution those traits were culled as being a threat to the welfare of the group.
    So, what would happen is a group of lessor apes would team up and take out the unbalanced bully psychopath ape. A more balanced Ape would than become leader.
    So, the reason I’m thinking about rise to power by the psychopaths is because people like Klaus Schwab, Dr Harari, Bill Gates, Dr Fauci , the WEF, and the others are dangerous deranged psychopaths to me that are threatening the human group. You can add Henry Kissinger, and John D Rockerfeller to the list.
    So, it was bound to happen that the misfits would unite in a power play to derail the human race.
    All you have to do is listen to them talk and you can see they are unbalanced psychopathic bully apes , that need to be taken out or arrested, or whatever method will stop them.

    1. In the 20th Century, psychopathic leaders had the distinct tendency to end up full of holes or with a tight necktie. It’s only been recently that a new type of psycho leader has emerge (e.g., Schwab, Gates etc.). I think it’s premature to conclude that this new crowd of madmen are going to end up ruling the New World Order.

      It’s much more likely, IMHO, that things will descend into a world full of dysfunctional banana republics.

  29. “Officials from the Ministry of Construction have “……..

    Isn’t that where Harry Potter gets his shacks?

    1. Economy|Financial Markets
      Bloomberg
      US stocks sink to their lowest in 6 weeks; Nasdaq drops 3.9%
      The rout continued after the closing bell after results from Alphabet and Microsoft disappointed.
      The prospect of slower economic expansion alongside persistent inflation is leading to a febrile mood in markets [File: Brendan McDermid/Reuters]
      By Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee
      Bloomberg
      Published On 26 Apr 2022

      U.S. stocks sank to the lowest in six weeks as doubts emerged that corporate profits can withstand the Federal Reserve stepping up its battle to tame runaway inflation.

      The rout persisted after the cash market closed, as results from Alphabet Inc., Texas Instruments Inc. and Microsoft Corp. disappointed. The biggest ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100 sank another 1% after the tech-heavy index plunged almost 4% to the lowest in 11 months. Alphabet lost 5.8% and Microsoft was down 1.2% as of 4:10 p.m. in New York.

      https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/4/26/us-stocks-fall-as-investors-await-big-tech-earnings

      1. The Financial Times
        Markets Briefing Equities
        European shares decline following sharp falls for US tech stocks
        Google parent Alphabet posted a $1.5bn drop in quarterly profits after Wall Street closing bell
        European technology shares fell after Alphabet reported a quarterly drop in profits of $1.5bn
        © Getty Images
        Naomi Rovnick in London and William Langley in Hong Kong
        2 hours ago

        European stocks fell on Wednesday following a torrid session on Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite share index posted its biggest single-day decline since September 2020.

        The regional Stoxx 600 share index lost almost 1 per cent cent in early dealings. Germany’s Dax was down 0.4 per cent and London’s FTSE 100 edged 0.5 per cent lower.

        European technology shares fell 1 per cent, following a 3.95 per cent fall for the Nasdaq on Tuesday. The moves in Europe came after Google parent Alphabet reported a $1.5bn drop in quarterly profits following the closing bell, citing a slowdown in European advertising spending at its YouTube division, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
        …

        1. “…driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

          Does it seem like every economic problem on the planet is due to the Ukraine invasion?

    2. Where’s AlbuquerqueDan when you need a word of good cheer about the Chinese economy?

      1. The Financial Times
        Equities
        Chinese stocks notch steepest monthly loss in 6 years as lockdowns hit growth
        Beijing’s zero-Covid policy threatens country’s ability to hit GDP target
        Health workers conduct Covid-19 coronavirus testing at a makeshift testing site in Zhongguancun Beijing on Tuesday
        The possibility of a strict lockdown in Beijing akin to the one in Shanghai has spooked investors, leading them to dump Chinese equities
        © Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images
        Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong yesterday

        China’s zero-Covid policy has put the country’s stocks on track for their steepest monthly loss in six years, as investors and analysts warn of deeper falls to come on concerns that Beijing could miss its growth target for the first time.

        Souring sentiment has pushed the country’s CSI 300 stock benchmark down 10 per cent this month, with traders dumping Chinese equities in the face of harsh lockdowns in cities including Shanghai, the country’s largest port and financial centre. With the possibility of a lockdown in Beijing looming, more investors are worrying the worst may lie ahead.

        “Global markets have been playing catch-up in recognising the severe consequences of China’s zero-Covid strategy,” said Ting Lu, an analyst at Nomura, which recently slashed its China growth estimate to 3.9 per cent.
        …

      2. Yahoo
        Bloomberg
        Hedge Fund Cuts China Stocks to Zero in Year Worse Than 2008
        Bloomberg News
        Mon, April 25, 2022, 12:10 AM·4 min read
        Hedge Fund Cuts China Stocks to Zero in Year Worse Than 2008

        (Bloomberg) — As China’s markets gyrate following Covid outbreaks and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the nation’s best-performing macro hedge funds is bracing for more pain.

        https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hedge-fund-cuts-china-stocks-220000937.html

        1. It’s funny they don’t even mention the Evergrande implosion as a reason for Chinese stocks to CR8R.

    3. Dumb question of the evening: Is the Fed’s pandemic stimulus bubble collapsing before our eyes?

  32. Orlando, FL Housing Prices Crater 18% YOY As The Toxic Rot Of Subprime Mortgage Defaults Looms Over Florida Housing Market

    https://www.movoto.com/fl/32827/market-trends/

    As one national broker conceded, “We’ve been scraping the bottom of the buyer barrel for 15 years or more. Why do you think mortgage defaults are 600% higher than long term trend?”

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