thehousingbubble@gmail.com
Blog

This Had To Happen Sometime And It Seems That Time Is Now

A report from the Daily Local News in Pennsylvania. “‘What am telling my buyers is that (demand for houses) may never cool off in this area,’ said Steve Laret who heads up the Steve Laret Team with Vanguard Realty Alliance in West Chester. ‘I know that’s a bold statement. But for every home we create, we have two people who are moving into this area. We are in an unrecoverable spin.'”

“In March, Chester County home prices increased 9.6 percent compared to last year, selling for a median price of $460,000. Houses in housing development off Route 303 near the Boot Road exit in West Goshen were selling in the $450,000 range two years ago. Today, it’s $650,000. And buyers, anticipating their house will quickly appreciate, are overpaying.”

“Like other realtors, Laret is urging prospective owners to take action now, if they can, before they get locked out of the market due to skyrocketing prices. ‘Get anything you can, literally that is the advice I am giving my friends and family,’ Laret said. ‘Get an $80,000 house in Pottstown, it doesn’t matter. It will be worth 150 grand in no time.'”

The Beaver County Times in Pennsylvania. “A typical Beaver County home listed for $174,900 in March, down 2.8% from a month earlier, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows. The median list home price in March was down about 19.6% from March 2021. Beaver County’s median home was 1,517 square feet for a listed price of $125 per square foot. Allegheny County’s home prices fell 20.1%, to a median $232,450, from a year earlier.”

From KVVU Las Vegas in Nevada. “LVR President Brandon Roberts said in the report that existing home prices in the Las Vegas Valley have now quadrupled since hitting their post-recession bottom in Jan. 2012, when the median single-family home price in Southern Nevada was $118,000. ‘With mortgage interest rates going up in recent months and so few homes available for sale, it’s no wonder we’re selling fewer homes,’ Roberts said. ‘Although local home prices are still increasing, we expect the rate of appreciation to start slowing down at some point as these trends continue. At least we had more homes available for sale than we had the previous month and the previous year.'”

“LVR notes that by the end of April, 2,441 single-family homes were listed for sale without any offer, up 33.6% from the same time last year.”

The Pagosa Daily Post in Colorado. “Now for the latest real estate news. Overall sales are down 34% from last year. Home sales are down 24%, condo sales are down 3%, and land sales down 42%. The two segments showing the biggest change are condo inventory, which has jumped up from 2 available a year ago to 15 today, and homes priced above $1 million which are up 59%, from 17 last year to 27 today.”

“Overall, I see the real estate market starting to soften. I think prices have peaked. The typical three bedroom, two bath, two car garage, 1600 square foot home in Pagosa is priced around $600,000. If you are getting a standard mortgage with 20% down, your payments have gone up a whopping $694.30 per month. I’m expecting rates to continue to rise. We may see 6% in the near future. We have been spoiled for many years.”

The Puget Sound Business Journal in Washington. “Across the 26-county MLS there were were about three-quarters of a month of supply of homes and condos when April ended. That is the highest level in almost 18 months. Rising interest rates could present more opportunities for buyers, said Gary O’ Levar, designated broker-owner at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Signature Properties in Seattle. ‘We are seeing signs that the peak ‘zeal’ of the competitive offer frenzy may be leveling off a bit,’ he said. ‘While we might have seen 10 offers on an active listing, now we may see only five, or sometimes fewer.'”

The Associated Press. “The share of home sellers who dropped their asking price shot up to a six-month-high of 15% for the four weeks ending May 1, according to Redfin. That’s up from 9% a year earlier, and represents the largest annual gain on record in Redfin’s weekly housing data back through 2015.”

The Globe and Mail. “What was striking about the speech this week from the Bank of Canada’s No. 2 official on the importance of central-bank independence wasn’t what she had to say. It was that the bank felt compelled to say it at all. Senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers’s address Tuesday largely amounted to a civics lesson on how Canada’s central bank is structured to operate: independently from the elected federal government that ultimately oversees it.”

“If the Bank of Canada was succeeding in its most important responsibility – to keep inflation low and stable around a 2-per-cent target – there likely wouldn’t be much public concern about who is ultimately pulling the policy strings. But inflation is running at more than triple the target, and the bank is scrambling to douse the fire with alarmingly steep and rapid interest-rate increases.”

“There’s an audience for questioning the competence, and even the motives, of a central bank that appears to have dropped the ball on its only job that most voters care about. You can trace this problem back two years to a moment in mid-March of 2020: Then-Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz took a press conference podium side by side with then-finance minister Bill Morneau in a very conscious public display that they were co-ordinating policy efforts in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.”

“That was the moment that the central bank decided to sacrifice its independence in the name of staving off an economic catastrophe. It has never entirely gotten it back. It all played into a sense that the government had launched into what amounted to an experiment in ‘modern monetary theory’ – the notion, essentially, that government can spend vast sums and incur large debts, which is to be financed by the central bank as the issuer of its own currency. Despite denials by the bank and the government that MMT was ever part of their strategy, it’s been a hard charge to shake.”

The Financial Post. “‘Consumer spending and some sectors of housing investment will face some important headwinds in the coming years,’ Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Alberta Central and a former Bank of Canada staffer, said in a report last month. ‘As a result, there is a risk that growth will be weaker than currently expected. For the overall growth outlook, the question is whether business investment and exports can grow sufficiently to compensate for this weakness.'”

“Routledge’s confidence that the financial system will remain a firewall against worst-case scenarios shouldn’t be confused with complacency. The superintendent said during the interview that he ‘kind of’ agrees with former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz’s contention that worries over high debt levels are rooted in attitudes that haven’t changed since the Great Depression, and therefore discount the extent to which financial innovations — and more sophisticated approaches to regulation — have made it possible for households to live off credit.”

From Bloomberg. “When a bellwether Chinese property developer reportedly sought buyers for $12bn of assets to repay debt this year, the move sparked hopes of a liquidity boost for the nation’s embattled real estate firms. But since January, only about three of 34 assets listed by Shimao Group Holdings Ltd – one of the biggest issuers of dollar bonds in the sector – have been sold, according to exchange filings.”

“‘I haven’t seen any developer successfully lifting itself out of distress through M&A,’ Shen Chen, a partner at Shanghai Maoliang Investment Management LLP, who trades high-yield bonds. ‘Buyers are slashing prices hard. Both sides refuse to budge.'”

“In January, Sunac China Holdings Ltd sold its stake in a project in central Wuhan covering an area equivalent to 19 football fields to a unit of state-owned Beijing Capital Land Ltd. at a 59% discount, according to people familiar with the matter. In late April, Guangzhou R&F Properties Co agreed to sell its stake in a property project by the River Thames in London at a HK$1.84bn ($234mn) loss.”

“Shimao, known for its portfolio of five-star hotels in prime locations, in January sold Hyatt on the Bund in the centre of Shanghai for about 20% less than the appraised value, a person familiar said.
The previous month, Shimao recognised a loss of HK$770mn from offloading a stake in a Hong Kong residential project to repay debt.”

“‘It would be great news if state-owned firms stabilise private property companies by buying 20-30% of their shareholdings,’ said Dhiraj Bajaj, head of Asia credit at Lombard Odier, a top 10 investor in China’s junk property bonds. ‘Unfortunately, we are not seeing that trend. Frankly, it is too late for most privately owned developers now.'”

From Games Radar. “Star Wars Day has come back around, and that means offers on all kinds of Star Wars merch. In celebration of the event, we’ve rounded up the most tempting discounts here. Chief among them would be the massive saving on Galactic Snackin’ Grogu. This particular piece of Star Wars merch has tumbled from $84.99 to just $27.99, which is a drop of well over 60%. Considering how hot it was over the Christmas period (and how freakin’ adorable it is, never mind anything else), that’s an impressive reduction.”

“Another noteworthy saving is this price cut for the first volume of From a Certain Point of View, the collection of short stories set during the original Star Wars movie. That’s fallen by 20%.”

From Motor Trend News. “A five point plan to help dealers maximise the effectiveness of their online presence has been issued by iVendi as the used car market finally starts to lose growth momentum. Darren Sinclair, CCO, said that while the sector remained quite buoyant, the market peak had now probably been passed, caused by factors such as the cost of living crisis and more competition for spending as the pandemic hopefully came to an end.”

“‘We’re hearing a chorus of voices – ranging from industry experts to anecdotal evidence from dealers – stating that values and prices are falling after several years of growth. This had to happen sometime and it seems that time is now.'”

Related Posts
This Post Has 150 Comments

  1. ‘With mortgage interest rates going up in recent months and so few homes available for sale, it’s no wonder we’re selling fewer homes’

    Let’s go Brandon!

      1. Also Vegas related, recommend Mindy Robinson’s “Route 91” documentary about the Mandalay Bay shootings. That event wins the prize as the fastest spike down the memory hole of all time. My husband was very lucky, since he had arrived at MB fifteen minutes before it started.

        Should have more views than it does. Reveals shootings occurred at properties all the way up the Strip, not just MB, and there was also fire from helicopters.

        Route 91: Uncovering the Cover Up
        126,549 views | Jan 12, 2022 |Mindy Robinson
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GidVHyh2-Ek

        1. I really don’t know what to believe, but I know we have been lied to about it. There are glaring falsehoods about the shooter, though, like the assertion that he was a “professional gambler,” yet he played slots. NOBODY wins on slots. They’re rigged. Only a card player has a fighting chance.

      2. I had to live in Las Vegas for a year because my family moved there when I was young. It was awful. We left because the quality of life was terrible even way back when. I can’t stand the place.

  2. ‘development off Route 303 near the Boot Road exit in West Goshen were selling in the $450,000 range two years ago. Today, it’s $650,000. And buyers, anticipating their house will quickly appreciate, are overpaying’

    How could the central banks not notice this? They did and it’s what they wanted. It’s bat sh$t crazy, it will collapse and that’s probably by design.

    1. Fed-engineered boom/bust cycles are the most efficacious means to effect the transfer of property and assets from the increasingly pauperized middle and working classes to the Fed’s private equity accomplices. Looks to me like the Wall Street-Federal Reserve Looting Syndicate has set in motion the next Great Muppet Reaping, a la 2008.

    2. What’s weird is that the entire time they went from $450k to $650k, Mafia Blocks has been posting that they have been cratering. Lotta spin out there!

  3. ‘ the market peak had now probably been passed, caused by factors such as the cost of living crisis and more competition for spending as the pandemic hopefully came to an end’

    ‘We’re hearing a chorus of voices – ranging from industry experts to anecdotal evidence from dealers – stating that values and prices are falling after several years of growth. This had to happen sometime and it seems that time is now’

    I’ve made the joke about “predicting” a used car will cost less than a new one. Like saying negative yielding bonds will end. It’s should be obvious but in today’s absurdity, it’s not seen until it cracks up. Like this:

    ‘he ‘kind of’ agrees with former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz’s contention that worries over high debt levels are rooted in attitudes that haven’t changed since the Great Depression, and therefore discount the extent to which financial innovations — and more sophisticated approaches to regulation — have made it possible for households to live off credit’

    These people live in a fantasy land. Tomorrow I’ll get back to all the a$$ pounding going on in Toronto and spreading all across the country.

      1. Below is the ‘more’ part. Very interesting – for the price aspect, it needs to drop 30% more to get back to pre-pandemic pricing. It might take a while for the chip issue to be resolved on new cars, but the change in interest rates will certainly be a big kicker.

        [I did not know about this index – thanks for finding it]

        Though the Used Car Index tracks *wholesale pricing*

        Manheim estimates that *retail used car sales* declined 13% MoM in April.

  4. ‘Overall sales are down 34% from last year. Home sales are down 24%, condo sales are down 3%, and land sales down 42%. The two segments showing the biggest change are condo inventory, which has jumped up from 2 available a year ago to 15 today, and homes priced above $1 million which are up 59%, from 17 last year to 27 today’

    ‘The typical three bedroom, two bath, two car garage, 1600 square foot home in Pagosa is priced around $600,000. If you are getting a standard mortgage with 20% down, your payments have gone up a whopping $694.30 per month’

    I may have driven by this sh$t hole in the past. I do know the area a bit. How many people up there make enough to pay back 600 thousand pesos? Five or so?

    1. Pagosa is actually really nice, proximity to Wolf Creek Ski Area and the Weminuche Wilderness.

      The local incomes do not support these prices.

      1. Pagosa Springs is lousy with high-net-worth libtards living out their shaken-not-stirred Jacuzzi dreams, remote from the consequences of their ideology in places like Denver. But the plague & pestilence is coming to Pagosa Springs, too.

      2. The local incomes do not support these prices.

        This is the story throughout the entire mountain west, yet they have been able to price real estate for the wealthy for most of the past 25 years. It has led to the financial annihilation of the working class and poor.

        1. I could not agree more. I live in the Jackson Hole area. The economy is becoming more a shambles every day because the workers can no longer even remotely afford to live here. Very diminished wait staff in restaurants, very diminished nursing in the hospital, and very diminished retail help.

          Oh well – it is just tourists anyway. But I wonder what will be thought when the tourists stay away because of the craptastic amenities.

          This news hit this weekend –
          https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/sports/local/football-coach-david-joyce-leaves-broncs-for-teton-timberwolves/

          And that just may get people’s attention. The very very successful football coach who brought the team back from the dead has to leave – BECAUSE HE IS TIRED OF LIVING IN A 1 BEDROOM APT. I do not blame him at all.

          1. Jackson, WY is alive for 22-wks/yr, mid May until mid October; then it’s unemployment checks. You can’t support a family selling “Moose” baseball caps, coffee cups and sweatshirts; it’s a tourist resort trap.

  5. “And buyers, anticipating their house will quickly appreciate, are overpaying.”

    Inflation is in the pipeline, and there is little central bankers can do about it.

      1. “Then why NOT keep printing?”

        – The Fed, aka The Bank of Evil, either by their own incompetence and ineptitude, or as some say by premeditated and nefarious intention (see: 5th plank of The Communist Manifesto), has only two options at this point, with neither of the outcomes being good (for the majority of Americans).

        – Recall that the Fed was created in 1913 to allegedly eliminate market crashes panics and depressions. How’s that been working out since then?

        “But let’s just go to the heart of the matter: the stock market, there is a floor there. You know that the Fed and others are pounding away to minimize the risk in the stock market, and that’s a good thing. That’s for our economy.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Cramer, July 22, 2020

        “Would I say there will never, ever be another financial crisis?” “You know probably that would be going too far but I do think we’re much safer and I hope that it will not be in our lifetimes and I don’t believe it will be,” – Janet Yellen, London, June 27, 2017

        “We are in a big, fat, ugly bubble.” – Donald Trump – 9/26/16

        “Investors know that we are there to prevent serious losses” – Jay Powell 2012

        “At this juncture, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained.” – Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, Congressional testimony, March, 2007

        “There is no housing bubble” – Ben Bernanke 2006

        ‘We will not have any more crashes in our time.’ – John Maynard Keynes, 1927

        “Under the Federal Reserve System we shall have no more financial panics.” – Charles Hamlin, the first head of the Federal Reserve in 1915.

        “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” – Milton Friedman

        – Hobson’s choice. Morton’s fork. A dilemma.

        https://twitter.com/The92ers/status/1521617529311047687?cxt=HHwWjsC96ZfF750qAAAA
        Peter Schmidt (The 92ers)
        @The92ers
        “After working at it pretty much non-stop since the emergency rate cut after LTCM collapsed, OCT 98, here are the two options the Fed has left.”
        [See drawing in tweet.]
        4:27 PM · May 3, 2022·Twitter Web App

        “The surest way to destroy a nation is to debauch its currency.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

        “The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

        “The establishment of a central bank is 90% of communizing a nation.” – Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin

        1. ‘why NOT keep printing?’

          Cuz people aren’t gonna be able to afford food if they don’t get inflation down.

          1. When people have to choose between paying their rent or mortgage or putting food on the table, social unrest won’t be far behind. #FJB

          2. ‘why NOT keep printing?’

            “Cuz people aren’t gonna be able to afford food if they don’t get inflation down.”

            – Yes, Ben, exactly. Thank you for distilling the Fed/Gov’t. dilemma down to brass tacks.

            https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-bread-costs-skyrocket-unrest/31838051.html
            As Bread Costs Skyrocket In Iran, So Does The Risk Of Social Unrest
            May 06, 2022 19:54 GMT
            By Michael Scollon | RFE/RL’s Radio Farda

            “A dramatic rise in the price of flour in Iran is leading to concerns that the authorities’ recent decision to end subsidies for imported wheat could come at the cost of social unrest.”

            – This article is about Iran, but the situation could be anywhere.
            – A “let them eat cake” moment.
            – Think “Arab Spring.”
            – When rents and/or food prices become unaffordable, the next step is ‘social unrest.’ Think ‘peaceful protests’, and then riots if the issues aren’t redressed.
            – “The peasants are revolting!”
            – Anecdotally, I’m seeing shortages in some items now in the grocery stores here in CO. Third world problems? Banana Republic problems? Think again. This could get ugly. It’s almost as if a “Great Reset” is in the works, or something.
            – Klaus $chwab, the WEF globalist apparatchik and their minions smile, in a demonic, sociopathic kind of way. Think Satan and his legions of demons and you wouldn’t be far wrong.

          3. Cuz people aren’t gonna be able to afford food if they don’t get inflation down.

            What’s really weird is we have people right on your blog saying there’s no inflation. I wonder if they’re getting paid by Brandon’s regime.

          4. If the US somehow goes Zimbabwe, my goal will be to bust some caps in central bankers. At that point there’s nothing left to lose.

    2. Not so. Paul Volker nipped it but Powell won’t. Set rates higher than inflation and presto.
      Stop the BS SUPPLY SHORTAGE and let the ships unload.

  6. Regarding Central Banks and the story about the Bank of Canada above — the top bureaucrats are fighting back hard. Even with every indication that they completely f@#$’ed up the last 2 years of their policies, and that many household will be in big trouble, they will continue to deny. Of course they refuse to be audited.


    Former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge is strongly disputing Conservative Party MP and leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre’s claim the central bank is “financially illiterate.”

    In an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Dodge, who was governor from 2001 to 2008, called the assertion “bull****.”

    “I’m very insulted by that…They understand what’s going on,” he said, adding that the Bank of Canada’s navigation of the last two years has effectively kept Canada out of a “real depression” coming out of the pandemic.

    Poilievre’s criticism of Canada’s central bank is a key pillar of his leadership campaign. He’s questioned its independence, has vowed to have it audited, and will bar it from using its own digital currency.

    1. ‘I’m very insulted by that…They understand what’s going on,” he said, adding that the Bank of Canada’s navigation of the last two years has effectively kept Canada out of a “real depression’

      Faux moral superiority, what a surprise. The CCP virus didn’t destroy the global economy, the globalists/communists came out of the wood work to do that. Now you hang!

      1. We have a billionaire globalist problem that needs to be cleaned up. The olds panicked over the Woohoo sniffles, paranoid they were going to have to leave this mortal coil and their precious billions, and started whinging it with lockdowns, fake vaccines and a massive propaganda operation.

  7. ‘It would be great news if state-owned firms stabilise private property companies by buying 20-30% of their shareholdings,’ said Dhiraj Bajaj, head of Asia credit at Lombard Odier, a top 10 investor in China’s junk property bonds. ‘Unfortunately, we are not seeing that trend. Frankly, it is too late for most privately owned developers now’

    Yer holding the 👜 Dhiraj.

  8. Die, speculator scum.

    Second homeowners face their council tax being doubled if they leave properties unused under levelling-up plans set to be unveiled this week

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10793599/Second-homeowners-face-doubled-council-tax-leave-properties-unused-levelling-plans.html

    The owners of second homes who leave them unused face punishing council tax bills under levelling-up plans to be unveiled this week.

    For the first time, councils in England will be able to double council tax on unoccupied second homes to boost funding for local services.

    Other homes simply left empty could also see the standard council tax rate doubled after 12 months – as opposed to two years at present.

    1. From the article:

      English local authorities will gain ‘discretionary powers’ to levy a premium of up to 100 per cent on council tax bills for second homes that are furnished but not occupied as a sole or main residence.

      So anyone with a second home might– or might not– have to pay “up to” double the tax on that home. But this only applies if the second home is furnished. So you could leave it unfurnished and just bring an air mattress when you go there. And be sure to visit from time to time and/or pay someone to stop by once in a while so it’s not considered a long term vacancy.

      Great plan, guys, I’m sure this will totally solve the housing problem in the UK.

  9. “‘What am telling my buyers is that (demand for houses) may never cool off in this area,’ said Steve Laret who heads up the Steve Laret Team with Vanguard Realty Alliance in West Chester.

    Realtors are liars (Exhibit A).

  10. ‘there is a reason societies display their collaborators and quislings and traitors. There is a reason treason is a capital offense. There is a reason fraud and coercion, battery and child abuse, unlawful detainment and theft and child endangerment, all of which crimes were committed against us “in the pandemic”, are criminal offenses.’

    ‘To be healing, there has to be justice.’

    ‘To have a free society we have to have a history, and in this major historical moment, we had a massive betrayal of the social contract — a betrayal committed by millions. The social contract cannot be re-knit without public accountability, trials, confrontations, and even condemnation.’

    ‘Let the school board members who masked the children be sued in civil court. Let them do community service in bright orange vests and pick up garbage along the sides of the roads.’

    ‘Let the members of the Boards of Health who shut down their neighbors’ businesses for no reason, face civil charges. Let their names be published in the newspapers.’

    ‘Let the ones who shunned the unvaccinated and disinvited them from their galas and dinner parties, experience for themselves what that feels like and face the fact that they were hateful and engaged in hate.’

    ‘Let the deans who took millions of dollars from nonprofits to adopt policies to mandate vaccines for healthy young college students — vaccines that disrupted the cycles and damaged the hearts of perfectly healthy young women and men in their charge — face trials for racketeering and reckless endangerment and coercion. Let the Pharma executives and the heads of the FDA be tried for fraud and battery. Let the trials begin.’

    ‘For people to be part of a healthy society they need to face themselves; and these quislings and collaborators should confront what they did. If they committed crimes, they should be tried and convicted.’

    https://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/oh-ok-its-over?s=r

    1. ‘An upcoming book, titled “Pandemonium: Power, Politics and Ireland’s Pandemic,” by journalists Jack Horgan-Jone of the Irish Times and Hugh O’Connell of the Irish Independent, will reveal, among other things, that the government considered a dystopian surveillance system to fight the pandemic.’

      ‘The book describes the plan as “Orwellian,” considering it violation of privacy just to make sure the Irish people obeyed the nation’s Covid measures, which were, at time, the strictest in the globe. “What emerged was an almost Orwellian plan, bizarrely dubbed 1 Government Centre (1GC),” the book says. The government wanted to also monitor citizen’s takeouts through social media and banking data.’

      ‘The report does not state why the Irish government ditched the plan. However, it states that the controversial Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, described the plan as a “load of horseshite” during meetings.’

      https://reclaimthenet.org/ireland-considered-full-blown-surveillance-state-in-response-to-covid-book-alleges/

    2. “the ones who shunned the unvaccinated and disinvited them from their galas and dinner parties”

      A New York Times reporter is being slammed by critics after opining that former President Barack Obama’s birthday party was a low COVID-19 risk due to the “sophisticated, vaccinated” guest list.

      This is a France 1789 moment.

    3. ‘For people to be part of a healthy society they need to face themselves; and these quislings and collaborators should confront what they did. If they committed crimes, they should be tried and convicted.’

      We need to bring back the stocks, keel-hauling, and the Cat-O-Nine-Tails. Anything less is too good for these scum.

        1. admit so casually that they were wrong about everything

          This was predicted on this blog by more than one person.

  11. “Like other realtors, Laret is urging prospective owners to take action now, if they can, before they get locked out of the market due to skyrocketing prices. ‘Get anything you can, literally that is the advice I am giving my friends and family,’ Laret said.

    Anyone stupid enough to take “advice” from someone with a vested financial stake in the transaction deserves to end up being an FB.

  12. Looks like some of the globalist oligarchs that have treated America as their private looting preserve are making contingency plans for getting out of Dodge before the pitchforks & torches come for them.

    US billionaires’ demand for ‘golden passport’ schemes that sell citizenships to ‘safe’ countries for up to $6.5m including New Zealand and Portugal rockets by 337% in three years as fears of civil unrest spike

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10792937/US-billionaires-demand-golden-passport-schemes-rockets-337-three-years.html

    Soaring numbers of wealthy Americans are buying ‘golden passports’ that grant them citizenship to New Zealand, Portugal and other ‘safe’ countries over fears of impending civil war in their home country.

    Henley & Partners, a firm that helps the wealthy shop around for citizenship across the globe, said sales to American nationals worth between $50 million and $20 billion have shot up more than 337 percent since 2019, Business Insider reported.

    1. Their own tracking systems will be their downfall. In the age of information and surveillance, there is nowhere safe on earth for these people. Saddam was dragged out of a hole in the ground. These people will suffer the same fate.

      1. From what I have read, the bulk of those seeking “golden passports” are not billionaires, but “mere” multimillionaires. In other words, people most of us have never heard of. It will be hard for people like Gates or Zuke to vanish, but I think that some anonymous dude who made $30 million on his Silicon Valley stock options could do it.

        The real problem will be finding a place where to flee. If the global economy collapses who says things will be peachy in New Zealand or Portugal?

          1. Multiple passports may provide mobility options.

            I think that for the “non infamous” that’s what it’s all about. Being able to flee to somewhere less dangerous if the cold civil war becomes not so cold and US passports are no longer welcomed. It needs to be a place where you can safely park your cash because obviously you won’t have any income. That said, if the US does go down in flames the rest of the world will get “interesting”

  13. All these caterwauling parents are losing sight of what’s important here: no more mean tweets.

    Why is Joe Biden doing nothing to help desperate US babies? Parents and politicians slam president for failing to intervene in baby formula crisis as distressed dad says ‘never did I think I would have a problem finding food for my baby in America’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10793859/Parents-politicians-slam-Biden-failing-intervene-baby-formula-crisis.html

    2. Why is Joe Biden doing nothing to help

      This guy is turning circles, sh!tting his diaper and mumbling.

      1. His handlers tell him everything is great and that he is the most beloved president ever. And that there’s ice cream for dessert tonight.

    3. Yeah because he is creating the crisis dumbo
      Hi im the government and Im here to help.
      The socialist answer to everything whine and cry to the government.
      Boo hoo

  14. “Now for the latest real estate news. Overall sales are down 34% from last year. Home sales are down 24%, condo sales are down 3%, and land sales down 42%.

    Is that a lot?

    1. Overall sales are down 34% from last year. Home sales are down 24%, condo sales are down 3%, and land sales down 42%.

      This is a land bubble. I expect land prices to fall over 90%.

  15. Senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers’s address Tuesday largely amounted to a civics lesson on how Canada’s central bank is structured to operate: independently from the elected federal government that ultimately oversees it.”

    Oh please. Canada’s central bank and its globalist Quisling regime both answer to the same cabal of oligarchs.

  17. So to all you new moms who pulled the D lever during the last election: how’s that “Build Back Better” working out for ya?

    REVEALED: The states and metro areas where stocks of baby formula have fallen to as low as 50% amid national shortage: Parents struggling to feed their babies slam ‘disgusting’ price gauging with tins going for TRIPLE on eBay

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10791787/Stores-12-states-12-metro-areas-40-higher-stock-baby-formula.html

    1. How did the human race propagate before formula existed? Every woman has 2 formula makers right on her chest.

      1. “Every woman has 2 formula makers right on her chest.”

        As do men (so I am told).

        😁

    1. I am reminded of the female comedian who recently collapsed on stage moments after blaspheming.

  20. Sorry, “furious residents,” but all three of the UK’s Establishment political parties are globalist Quislings, and you voted for them. So you own this.

    ‘It’s the wrong plan, in the wrong place’: Furious residents say they fear for their safety amid outrage over Priti Patel’s ‘Guantanamo-on-Ouse’ plan to house 1,500 asylum seekers in sleepy Yorkshire village

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10788837/Residents-fear-safety-Priti-Patels-Guantanamo-Ouse-plan.html

  21. This is a urine soaked mattress article.

    Washington Post Editorial Board — Jan. 6 was worse than you remember. It must define our politics (5/7/2022):

    “The attackers did not behave like “tourists”; they were not unarmed; Jan. 6 was not a normal protest that got out of hand; the attack was not staged by far-left agitators posing as Trump supporters. Instead, it was a coordinated and concerted effort on the part of pro-Trump zealots, riled up by then-President Donald Trump himself, to reverse a presidential election by intimidation and force.”

    The 2020 election was stolen.

    “The goal was “to stop the transfer of power by disrupting a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.”

    The 2020 election was stolen.

    “Jan. 6 should have been a turning point in our politics. Voters must recognize that where politicians stand on democracy is more important than tax rates, inflation, gas prices or any other policy issue.”

    The 2020 election was stolen.

    “Lawmakers who see the threat that growing illiberal forces pose to the nation must secure its democratic institutions.”

    The 2020 election was stolen.

    https://archive.ph/ghy6R

    The Washington Post is globalist scum media.

    And President Donald Trump was correct when he stated that “the media is the enemy of the American people”

    1. “The attackers did not behave like “tourists”; they were not unarmed; Jan. 6 was not a normal protest that got out of hand; the attack was not staged by far-left agitators posing as Trump supporters.”

      New York Times’ Matthew Rosenberg calls colleagues ‘bitches,’ says left overreacted to Capitol riot: video

      By Ben Kesslen
      March 9, 2022 7:09pm Updated

      A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times was caught on video bashing his colleagues as “f–king bitches” while ripping “the left’s overreaction” to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

      https://nypost.com/2022/03/09/nyt-reporter-calls-colleagues-b-s-says-left-overreacted-to-jan-6/

  23. Many thanks for doing the most important job in the world and wishing Tarara along with all the other Moms who frequent the HBB a very Happy Mother’s Day!

    1. Thanks! I am wondering if I will hear from my daughter today. She moved out and is no longer talking to me (hopefully temporary, I feel a little numb over it.) She is resentful over my objection to her getting vaccinated (J&J, to keep her job). Calls me controlling, a conspiracy theorist.

      Because I was not feeling well during the time we were fighting maybe I was a little too blunt, didn’t handle her with the usual kid gloves. She has Asperger’s Syndrome, girls run about 10 years behind in maturation, tend to be rule bound, rigid. The family dynamic, usually pleasant, went to hell in a handbasket in recent years.

      Hopefully, this too will pass.

      1. Bummer, sorry to hear that.

        I objected to my youngest daughter getting vaccinated (which she didn’t want to do) to complete her clinical requirements for her RN degree. She didn’t want to withdraw and wait to see if they would drop the requirement so she did it.

        She got her degree and is working in a hospital. About a week and a half ago she got chest pains at work and they sent her to another floor to get checked out. The first question the doctor asked my 24 year-old daughter was… Have you been vaccinated?

        Given time, your daughter will know you had her best interest at heart.

        Happy Mother’s Day to a good Mom

        1. That had to be scary. D-dimer test?

          I haven’t heard my daughter’s full list of grievances. I’m likely guilty of some. I was trying to toughen her up a bit because at one point it was iffy that I’d still be around. I know in the past her interpretation of things I’ve said were not what I meant at all; that’s always been a problem. I’m trying to keep my anger down. No good deed goes unpunished 🙄

          1. daughter’s full list of grievances

            What daughter doesn’t have them?! In time, she’ll realize you meant well.

        2. The first question the doctor asked my 24 year-old daughter was… Have you been vaccinated?

          So, in other words … they know. Even though they all claim that the jab is safe and effective, they know it’s neither. And probably tell you that huge lie because their job and possibly their license is on the line.

      2. You raised her right. She’s an aspy brat right now, but she’s living independently. You mentioned up thread you want to move. Make it so. Shes not going to co.e to your door with flowers and an apology. You’ll get a text when she wants to reconnect. Enjoy the rest of your life. Let her live hers.

        1. Doing that now. Money is a problem, big rent hike. Looking for work as much for my mental health as $.

          Shocked when she gave me two days notice about moving. Surprisingly capable of her, since she has always seemed a bit helpless and easily upset in front of us (husband), to which I’d sometimes respond “You don’t do this at work, do you?” She’d say no, only feels free to do it at home. Fine (not sure about that), but very hard to take when you’re not feeling well and I lost my temper a few times.

          Her moving out, no problem/good sign, but that left us without a car. Ours had just died, so suddenly without transportation, looking for a used car in the worst market ever (finally got one recently.)

          Last two years have been a laugh riot with my husband retiring, home all the time instructing me on things I’ve routinely taken care of forever, looking for pats on head. A frying pan has been in dangerously close proximity a few times, and I was tempted 😉

          Thx for the advice. I’m sure this will pass. I bore me at the point, apologies to all.

          P.S.  👍🏻 “Aspie brat” – challenging, exhausting, sweet until now.

  24. Re: values and prices are falling

    It is incorrect to use these two words interchangeably. Value of something is how much it affects your quality of life. If you add some improvements then it increases the value. Price, on the other hand, is what the highest bidder is willing to pay and these two may or may not be correlated . . .

    1. “Re: values and prices are falling”

      – Then: Housing has historically been shelter; a place to live.
      – Now: Housing, like most of the economy, has been financialized by the FIRE sector as aided and abetted by the Fed./Gov’t. in the interest of inflating asset prices and strip-mining the middle class (wealth transfer). Think growing wealth inequality.
      – With financial repression, esp. interest rates, there’s no price discovery, so effectively the Fed sets asset prices, since they set rates artificially low. This is their wealth effect, but it cuts both ways.
      – Now that the Fed’s hands are tied due to 1970’s style inflation, rates are rising back towards some kind of more realistic number. Exactly how high they go is anyone’s guess.
      – Both price and value have been obscured by massive interventions and speculator mania behavior. This is in most every asset category.
      – It remains to be seen what happens next, but based on postings in this blog and history, there could be an adjustment in both of these categories. 🙂

      “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” – Warren Buffett

      – Related:

      “You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.” – Warren Buffett

      – I sure hope everyone put 20% down and didn’t pay too much! 🙂

      “Participants in the speculative situation are programmed for sudden efforts at escape. Thus the rule, supported by the experience of centuries: the speculative episode always ends not with a whimper but with a bang. There will be occasion to see the operation of this rule frequently repeated.” – John Kenneth Galbraith

    2. When value is measured by price then the two terms become interchangeable.

      This equating value with price is done every day when it comes to stocks and mutual funds, and it is done every day when it comes to real estate.

  25. Real Journalist Alert!

    CNN: Capitol Police ‘Warning the Far Right Is Calling for Violence’ after Supreme Court Leak

    IAN HANCHETT
    6 May 2022

    On Friday’s “CNN Newsroom,” co-host and Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto reported that after the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion on Roe v. Wade, “Capitol Police are warning the far right is calling for violence against a religious group planning to rally for abortion rights.”

    Sciutto stated, “This morning, law enforcement officials are preparing for potential violence in the capital and nationwide after the leak of that Supreme Court draft opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade after 50 years. Capitol Police are warning the far right is calling for violence against a religious group planning to rally for abortion rights.”

    3710 Comments

    AmFirst • 2 days ago
    Typical Alinsky tactic, accusing your enemy of the crimes you’re committing.

    CNN is PATHETIC

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/05/06/cnn-capitol-police-warning-the-far-right-is-calling-for-violence-after-scotus-leak/

    1. CNN: Capitol Police ‘Warning the Far Right Is Calling for Violence’ after Supreme Court Leak

      While leftists intimidate Supreme Court justices at their homes.

      I just don’t see how there can be peaceful outcome to the cold civil war. One side has been willing to “compromise” for decades while the other side takes no prisoners. It really feels as if the breaking point is at hand.

          1. Just heard that Samuel Alito has been moved into hiding for protection.

            I wonder just how far the Left will go to protect Roe vs. Wade

  26. My wife’s Cocker Spaniel died yesterday afternoon due to old age kidney failure. Small town, solo veterinary clinic was closed with doc out of town, so it was “down” nature’s way.

    1. “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France

      “My wife’s Cocker Spaniel died yesterday afternoon”

      Sorry to hear that, it’s difficult to lose a friend.

      “At first they need us, and then we need them.”
      – Unknown

    3. When it was clearly time to make “the decision” my wife was unable to make the decision.

      1. It’s easy for people to allow their emotions to cloud their better judgment. I have been guilty of it myself in the past. I had a dog with cancer that I should have put down a week or so before I ended up doing it. His last week was a huge struggle.

        With my recent one, I made the decision to let her go before she lost all her dignity and quality of life. I probably could have strung her along for another month or so, but it would have been really awful for her.

        1. 👍🏻 Done that too, know how you feel. Still regret, won’t make that mistake again.

    4. Sorry to hear that. I had to say goodbye to my 15 year old furry friend recently myself. It’s an extremely difficult thing.

  27. The root cause of soaring catalytic converter thefts is the criminal coddling DAs and “woke” police departments in Democrat-Bolshevik malgoverned states and muncipalities that are enablers and accessories to the criminal element – a core Democrat constituency. “Vote blue, go zoo” might start hitting home for libtard drivers of hybrid vehicles that are the favored targets for catalytic converter thieves.

    Catalytic converter thefts target of state bill

    https://kdvr.com/news/local/catalytic-converter-thefts-colorado-bill/

    DENVER (KDVR) — Countless catalytic converters are stolen in Colorado, behind many victims’ frustration and a call for change. The FOX31 Problem Solvers have been hearing these complaints for months.

    Auto thefts have risen by 5,100% in Colorado, according to the Colorado Independent Auto Dealers Association. And in the first three months of this year, the Denver Police Department said five catalytic converters are reported stolen on average each day.

    A new bill in the state legislature could soon become a law aimed at stopping this.

    1. I’d say the root cause is the metals recyclers. If there was no market for these things, the thieves would be out of business in a minute. Almost every single metals recycling facility I have ever been to is crawling with tweakers, save for one which is extremely tidy and requires ID and only pays by check, no cash. I like that one, because I never saw a tweaker there.

      1. Way back when I was a window cleaner in San Francisco there was a problem of tourists being robbed, and a lower court judge had heard enough excuses. When the 5 to 7-yr Soledad prison sentences started being handed out crimes against tourists quickly dried up.

    2. 5,100% is that a lot?

      I posted here previously about catching a catalytic converter thief in the act, a few months ago. They were thwarted mid-act by myself and a neighbor, did not get away with the converter, but they did destroy it enough that my neighbor had to replace it.

      Vote like California, become California.

    1. Don’t know about these guys trying to flee while holding their trousers from falling down; gotta be styling while thieving? 🙂

  29. When inside trader extraordinaire Comrade Pelosi says Wall Street’s Republicrat duopoly puppets have to pass the Ukraine aid package, rest assured, that’s just the down payment. You have to wonder what kind of dirt Zelensky has on the Biden family & Democrats to have this kind of leverage.

    Pelosi Says ‘We Have to’ Pass $33 Billion Ukraine Aid Package

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-08/pelosi-says-we-have-to-pass-33-billion-ukraine-aid-package?srnd=premium&sref=ibr3A0ff

    1. You have to wonder what kind of dirt Zelensky has on the Biden family & Democrats to have this kind of leverage.

      You misunderstand the power structure. Zelensky is a puppet.

      1. Zelensky is a puppet.

        The olive drab looks good especially after the make-up artist combs his hair and then rakes his fingers backwards through it so some of it stands up like he’s been sleeping on the waiting room couch.

    1. Someone I know was planning an event at the Brown Palace in Denver next month. I suggested that they move it somewhere else that was not downtown, due to the high risk of civil unrest that would follow the official overturning of Roe vs. Wade, with hordes of professional hooligans being bused into town.

    1. “It’s Sunday feast once again”

      My MASSIVE Donkey’s Place Cheesesteak Sandwich! Here’s The Recipe And What I Made!

      BY JOHNRIEBER on JUNE 30, 2020 • ( 25 )

      My son shipped me the ingredients and instructions for me to make my own Donkey’s Place Cheesesteak for Father’s Day – what a great surprise!

      Thanks to Goldbelly for making all of these regional treats available across the country! The kit arrives packed with ice bags to stay fresh – and with easy to follow instructions: so let’s get cooking!

      https://johnrieber.com/2020/06/30/my-massive-donkeys-place-cheesesteak-sandwich-heres-the-recipe-and-what-i-made/

    1. I’m enjoying a Happy Mother’s Day with my mom.

      And since neither of us own any falling knife real estate, it’s even happier than it might otherwise be.

  33. Noting that the U.S. headline stock market indexes have dropped for six straight weeks in a row, here is my list of dumb questions of the day:

    1) Are we in a historic panic?

    2) If the Fed agrees, will they slow down the pace of interest rate increases?

    3) If the Fed slows he pace of interest rate increases, will inflation continue to go through the roof and even accelerate?

    4) Is the Fed stuck between the fire of inflation and the ice of recession?

    Any and all opinions on the above list of dumb questions are welcome.

    1. 1) What panic? The unemployment rate is 3.6%.
      2) See the answer to question #1. Slowing the pace of rate rises or QT is not an option for the Fed. They won’t destroy the value of the dollar despite what we may hear on zero guts.
      3) Interest rates will continue to rise until inflation is under control.
      4) A recession is necessary to kill inflation, but there’s so much money floating around we are still a long way from recession.

      Financial asset prices are irrelevant. Watch out for several high profile profitless tech companies to go bust in the down turn. Looking at you, Tesla.

    2. The latest forecast for mortgage rates(as of last week) is 9.825% for 15 year and 12% for 30 years.

      1. That will be the end of The Housing Bubble as we knew it, when and if that happens.
        I personally can’t wait for this wasteful and destructive episode in financial history to close. How ridiculous is it that we have made it exceedingly expensive for an entire generation to form households, through terrible government policies that drove the cost of shelter to unprecedented heights? Future generations will marvel at the folly of the present.

        1. How ridiculous is it that we have made it exceedingly expensive for an entire generation to form households

          I think that is by design.

          Fewer households == fewer children

          1. “I think that is by design.

            Fewer households == fewer children”

            Corporations chasing profits need more mouths to feed, not less. A demographic crisis is unavoidable unless we are willing to open the borders to the unwashed masses. Sustainable growth is still a college textbook fantasy.

          2. Corporations chasing profits need more mouths to feed, not less.

            Nuevos Americanos can be easily imported when needed. Plus you import adults who can join the workforce. No need to fund public education for them.

            As far as kids being needed: The overwhelming majority of visitors to Walt Disney World come without children. Sure, in the long run Disney will have fewer customers, but since when does management care about the long term?

            In any case, birthrates are in free fall, the jab may have damaged the fertility of millions and no one in high places seems all that concerned. If anything, their policies clearly scream “don’t have kids!”

      2. Fire and Ice
        By Robert Frost

        Some say the world will end in fire,
        Some say in ice.
        From what I’ve tasted of desire
        I hold with those who favor fire.
        But if it had to perish twice,
        I think I know enough of hate
        To say that for destruction ice
        Is also great
        And would suffice.

    3. “1) Are we in a historic panic?”

      – If it’s not yet obvious, U.S. equities are in a major bear market. For 13 years since the GFC, the Fed backstopped stonks and housing as part of “the wealth effect.” This was maximum moral hazard, pure and simple. However, financial risk wasn’t eliminated. Risk was just biding its time as volatility was artificially suppressed via Central Bank financial repression of interest rates, QE, massive debt, repo markets, and all manner of extraordinary, unconventional, experimental policies near and at the zero bound. The chickens are coming home to roost. The business cycle was delayed, but not prevented, despite what the Fed told everyone. Minsky moment.

      “Stability leads to instability. The more stable things become and the longer things are stable, the more unstable they will be when the crisis hits.” – Hyman Minsky

      – Now with historic 1970’s style inflation, they’re trapped: Stop printing/start tightening and stonks crash (you are here). Continue printing/easy $ policies and inflation gets worse. Think Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Turkey. Think social unrest. Think French Revolution. Can’t go there. Save equities and housing or Viva la revolución / Vive la révolution. Mutually exclusive. My opinion. Not investment advice, but as John Hussman said recently:

      “Buckle up, buttercup.”

      1)
      http://housingbubble.blog/?p=5890#comment-189441
      red pill economics
      May 7, 2022 at 5:47 am
      https://fortune.com/2022/05/06/jeremy-grantham-fifth-great-bubble-of-modern-era-economy-housing-crisis/
      FinanceEconomy
      Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham says we’re in the fifth great bubble of the modern era—and warns the economy won’t ‘skate through’ a housing crisis
      By Will Daniel
      May 6, 2022 11:36 AM MDT

      “Grantham argues the U.S. economy can weather dramatic drops in the stock market, as evidenced by the merely mild recession that surrounded tech stocks’ blowup during the dotcom bubble. But when it comes to a housing crisis, he says, the economy is unlikely to come through unscathed.”

      “The dotcom bubble of “2000 showed you can just about skate through a stock market event, but Japan and 2008 showed you can’t skate through a housing crisis,” Grantham told Bloomberg in an interview published on Friday.”

      “Grantham is convinced that we’re in the midst of a fifth great bubble of the modern era, following the Wall Street crash of 1929, the Japanese asset bubble of 1989, the dotcom blowup in 2000, and the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.”

      2)
      http://housingbubble.blog/?p=5893#comment-189563
      red pill economics
      May 8, 2022 at 7:08 am
      https://twitter.com/The92ers/status/1521617529311047687?cxt=HHwWjsC96ZfF750qAAAA
      Peter Schmidt (The 92ers)
      @The92ers
      “After working at it pretty much non-stop since the emergency rate cut after LTCM collapsed, OCT 98, here are the two options the Fed has left.”
      [See drawing in tweet.]
      4:27 PM · May 3, 2022·Twitter Web App

      1. If it’s not yet obvious

        The S&P 500 Protective Trigger (PTLC) as of the close of 4/28/22 is in the 100% T-Bill position. The NASDAQ Protective Trigger (PTNQ) has been in the 100% T-Bill position since 3/11/22.

      1. “We’re On Our Own Now, Without A Fed Safety Net. It’s A Sobering Reality”

        When did the Fed scrap the Greenspan put, and why didn’t anyone warn me?

      1. “1. Not yet; that will probably take another month or two.”

        For reasonz I don’t grasp, it seems like these situations have traditionally gathered downward momentum in October.

        However, I recall once asking a beloved academic advisor about whether we were in a historic panic circa July 2007. The credit markets were frozen in place (“Credit Crunch”). Subprime was collapsing as Ben Bernanke came out in the press to assert that, “Subprime will be contained to under $200 bn.” My advisor did not foresee any panic.

        I wonder if he eventually revised his answer. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago, so I will never know.

    6. Business
      Financial advice from the things that aren’t said
      May 8, 2022 at 12:05 am Updated May 8, 2022 at 10:28 am
      By Chuck Jaffe
      Syndicated columnist

      One of life’s truisms is that some things are better left unsaid.

      In the investing world, however, some things are just never said at all. Not because silence is “the right thing to do,” but more because no matter how much someone might want to imply something, saying it out loud would be wrong.

      I found proof of that recently as my podcast, “Money Life with Chuck Jaffe,” celebrated its 10th anniversary. There were previous iterations of my show on radio and in podcast form dating back 20 years, but the hourlong weekday version that debuted on April 30, 2012, has now done more than 2,500 episodes, most of them featuring four interviews.

      In those nearly 10,000 interviews — featuring thousands of unique guests — and exclusive of the many more conversations I have had with experts for the purpose of writing this column, you would think that I have heard everything by now.

      But what struck me as the show embarked on its second decade were the things that I haven’t heard anyone say on-air. Ever.

      I keep waiting and hoping — because the discussions would make for a good talk show — but I doubt I will find anyone who ever gives me the four following chestnuts with any conviction that they are true and right.

      “The time to panic is NOW.”

      Whenever the market gets salty, the media is quick to apply the balm of an experienced financial planner or money manager saying, “This is no time to panic.”

      They make that statement as if a good time to panic really exists, as if there is an actual point during a market frenzy when hysterical or irrational behavior is the right thing to do.

      But even in the worst of stock market declines, the verbal panic button has never been pushed on my show, and never will be.

      Whether it’s a stock-market decline or a big run on groceries before a winter storm, or any other nerve-wracking situation, panic is never good, so eliminate it from the conversation completely.

      Don’t be caught by surprise or unaware; as an investor and consumer, if you are mindful of your situation and current conditions, you can face problems calmly and have better outcomes.

      If ever you are tempted to panic, something about your plan is amiss.
      …
      https://www.seattletimes.com/business/financial-advice-from-the-things-that-arent-said/

      1. Why the sudden preoccupation with the subject of PANIC, Chuck?

        Do you often whistle as you stroll past the graveyard?

  34. Jason LaCroix
    1 year ago
    By far, that was the coolest stage entrance I’ve ever seen.

    Cheap Trick – Ain’t That a Shame (Live 1980)

    4,380,475 views

    https://youtu.be/EyW1p7SpYW8

    2,380 Comments

    dsfddsgh
    6 years ago
    I loved this band not just for their sound but how they looked like no other band. They had the two pretty boys on bass and vocals and Charlie Brown on guitar all grown up and your high school chemistry teacher on drums. LOL

    1. Do you suspect their might be a strong negative correlation between Bitcoin prices and interest rates?

  37. Would it make more sense to HODL dollars or risk assets (i.e. stocks, bonds, housing, cryptocurrencies, etc.) as central banks experience a prolonged meeting of the minds on the urgency of containing inflation?

    1. I guess it is technically central bankers whose minds are presently at one on controlling inflation. Banks are devoid of thought, so far as I can tell.

    2. The Financial Times
      Global Economy
      Soaring dollar raises spectre of ‘reverse currency wars’
      High inflation and aggressive US rate rises bolster the appeal of stronger exchange rates
      Montage of currencies
      The focus for central banks has shifted from encouraging growth to bringing down inflation
      © FT montage: Bloomberg
      Tommy Stubbington in London and Kate Duguid in New York May 6 2022

      The surging dollar has prompted some analysts and investors to forecast a new period of “reverse currency wars” as many central banks abandon a longstanding preference for weaker exchange rates.

      The new dynamic marks a departure from the period of low inflation that followed the 2007-09 global financial crisis, when historically low interest rates and large-scale asset purchases — which were partly aimed at boosting growth through a weaker currency — sparked accusations that some economic policymakers were pursuing a currency war.

      But in the global burst of price growth that has followed the coronavirus pandemic, stoked even further by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the focus for central banks has shifted from encouraging growth to bringing down inflation.

      “We are now in a world where having a stronger currency and offsetting the forces driving inflation is something that policymakers actually welcome,” said Mark McCormick, head of foreign exchange strategy at TD Securities.

      The dollar hit its highest level against a basket of rival currencies in 20 years this week as traders respond to the Federal Reserve’s attempt to cool inflation with sharp rate rises. But where once central bankers outside the US might have embraced the rampaging dollar, now they feel shifts in exchange rates have added extra pressure to keep pace with the Fed, McCormick argues.
      …

        1. The Financial Times
          Markets Briefing Equities
          Stocks and bonds drop as rate-rise concerns collide with growth worries
          Nasdaq set for further losses as US borrowing costs jump
          Pedestrians pass the New York Stock Exchange
          Rising interest rates have profoundly changed the calculus for investors as they decide how much capital they should deploy towards risky assets
          © AP
          Adam Samson in London
          29 minutes ago

          Global stocks and bonds were hit with a fresh jolt of selling on Monday as central banks rapidly reined in crisis-era stimulus measures and investors fretted about signs of slowdowns in the world’s large economies.

          Europe’s Stoxx 600 share index dropped 2.1 per cent in late-morning trading. On Wall Street, futures tracking the US blue-chip S&P 500 index slid 2 per cent, while those tracking the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 dropped 2.4 per cent. US government bonds also sustained another bout of selling, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield up to almost 3.2 per cent.

          Monday’s pullback comes as investors grapple with interest rate rises from the US Federal Reserve, intense inflation and emerging signs of strain in the world economy. The MSCI All-World barometer of global equities has fallen almost 15 per cent this year, while the Bloomberg aggregate index tracking the world’s fixed income markets has dropped 12 per cent.

          “Headwinds from higher bond yields, higher inflation, recessionary fears and geopolitics have all [weighed] on the market,” Citi equity strategist Beata Manthey said.

          The Fed last week lifted its main interest rate 0.5 percentage points, and signalled that more large increases were on the horizon as it attempts to cool scorching inflation. The UK, India and Australia also boosted interest rates last week.
          …

  38. Today is Monday, May 9th, 2022 and Joe Biden is not the legitimately elected president of the United States.

    The 2020 election was stolen.

  39. Some good news for a Monday.

    New York Post — NYC could face ‘long-term decline’ of workers returning to offices over crime (5/8/2022):

    “An advocate for large New York City employers warned Sunday that the Big Apple could see a “long-term decline” of workers commuting to Manhattan’s office buildings if crime isn’t reduced.

    The head of the group, Kathryn Wylde, in an appearance on WABC aired Sunday, assigned blame for the low office attendance to “the public safety problem” and concerns surrounding homelessness, rather than the city’s increasing COVID-19 positivity rates.

    “When we asked employers what’s the factor that would be most effective in bringing people back to the office, they said, ‘Reduce the presence of the homeless and mentally ill individuals, and expand police presence on the streets and subways”

    https://nypost.com/2022/05/08/nyc-could-face-decline-of-workers-returning-to-offices-over-crime/

    New York City is getting exactly what they voted for.

    “They’re not sending their best”

Comments are closed.