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It’s Painful To Get Back To Normal After Being In A Fantasy World

A report from the Idaho Press. “Brett Hughes, owner of Boise Premier Real Estate said in 2010 less than three homes in the million-dollar price range were sold in Ada County. That is partially because many of these homes that are now valued at $1 million or more, are double, and in some cases, triple, what they were valued at three to four years ago. ‘They’re pulling equity out of their places elsewhere, and bringing them here, and our prices still look pretty affordable to some,’ Hughes said. ‘That’s a really interesting factor because they don’t have to have an appraisal, they don’t have to have the full underwriting. So values can climb quickly,’ Hughes said. ‘And now, that becomes comparable for somebody else who’s actually getting financing. So it’s kind of like a vicious cycle to make prices go up quickly.'”

From Business Insider. “The number of Americans who have trouble landing a mortgage is on the rise, and a group of niche lenders are cashing in to help. Sprout Mortgage, Angel Oak, Carrington, and Athas Capital Group are four of the lenders who promise to help borrowers without a W-2. With the rest of the mortgage industry shrinking, these lenders are doing better than ever by catering to borrowers who were outcasts of the market because of low credit scores, heavy debt, or their status as nonsalaried workers.”

“‘It really is more of an art and a specialty in the non-QM,’ said Greg Austin, an executive vice president at the California firm Carrington Mortgage Services, another non-QM lender with ties to the pre-crisis subprime industry.”

From Toronto Storeys in Canada. “Before 2020, the idea of spending millions of dollars to live in the far out suburbs of the GTA would have seemed preposterous to most homebuyers. Then the pandemic hit, the market shifted, and that became entirely commonplace. Now as the market shifts again — this time with demand declining and prices falling — some buyers are experiencing overwhelming buyers’ remorse and trying to back out of deals.”

“‘It’s the reverse FOMO,’ said mortgage broker Ron Butler. ‘It’s FOGS: fear of getting screwed. When you start to hear conversations like the price of townhouses in Brampton is falling $15,000 a week, that’s very exciting to people. That is extremely impactful. And when enough people hear it, it’s frightening.'”

“These buyers are backing out because they don’t want to get stuck overpaying for a home they submitted an offer for a few months ago that, come closing time, is worth significantly less than what they agreed to pay. ‘I read comments about it and they just start with ‘I’m scared — I don’t want to close this transaction and instantly lose $180,000,’ Butler said. ‘Part of it is also sort of a culture we’ve developed where people think that you can get out of things.'”

From CTV News in Canada. “The red-hot housing market over the last several months pushed many buyers fighting through bidding wars to put in unconditional offers at high prices. But now that the market is cooling, some are ending up with mortgages that can’t cover the full cost of their home following an appraisal. Toronto-based mortgage broker Mary Sialtsis says there are ‘very few options’ for these buyers. ‘Especially in the last couple of months, I’ve had a few different clients that have dealt with this situation,’ she told CTV. ‘Unfortunately, there are very few options when you’ve purchased a property with no conditions and no financing conditions.'”

“Sialtsis warns that putting in offers without any financing conditions puts buyers at a huge risk, as the buyer is legally bound to close the deal regardless of whether they’re able to get a sufficient mortgage. ‘I really don’t think buyers fully understand the impact of those unconditional offers when they submit an offer to purchase a property,’ she said. ‘It becomes a legally binding contract and that buyer is expected to close on the closing date.'”

From Stuff New Zealand. “The level of housing market volatility is the highest in 30 years and that is causing the market downturn to snowball as the weakness works its way up to higher-end properties, a valuer says. ‘In my 30-plus years as a registered valuer, I have never seen anything quite like it before, and I am not sure if we have seen the worst of it, either. This residential property rollercoaster still has a way to go,’ Quotable Value general manager David Nagel said.”

“Nagel said that what began as a reduction at the more affordable end of the market was now beginning to affect prices much further up the property ladder. ‘What we are seeing now is a growing number of main centres experiencing declining prices at both ends of the market. Those losses are starting to mount, month to month, up and down the property ladder.'”

From Bloomberg. “Didi Global Inc. is widely expected to secure a blessing from shareholders on Monday to delist in New York, capping an 11-month ordeal that wiped out around $60 billion of its market value and turned the ride-hailing giant into a symbol of China’s tech crackdown.”

From Fortune. “The dot-com crash haunts the memories of many of the more seasoned investors on Wall Street, and this year’s stock market rout is conjuring up some serious déjà vu. It was a dot-com bust that washed out a slew of tech sector darlings that had ruled the 90s, and there’s a startlingly similar trend today in a market that didn’t exist decades ago—cryptocurrencies. The crypto market has lost roughly $1 trillion in value year-to-date in one of the worst sell-offs in the maturing market’s history.”

“‘In the dot-com era, and in the current market run-up and decline this year, there was a fervent, largely mindless belief that a subset of investments would go up in price forever,’ explained George Ball, the chairman of Sanders Morris Harris, a Houston-based investment firm that manages $4.9 billion. ‘The reasoning, if there was any, had no grounding in metrics, no real grounding in logic, and relied on a very high rate of growth continuing beyond any reasonable expectations of the boundaries of scale.'”

“‘I think, simply, with the long passage of high rates of growth and prosperity and GDP gains, we’re entitled to a recession. The popping of the bubble will create an awareness of reason and logic that a cold shower brings about,’ he said.”

From Bloomberg. “The world’s richest nation is waking up to an unpleasant and unfamiliar sensation: It’s getting poorer. A plunge in wealth since the start of 2022 that JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimates totals at least $5 trillion — and could reach $9 trillion by year-end. It all adds up to the sudden removal of a major prop to confidence: ever-bigger nest eggs. And it’s by design. To stamp out the highest inflation in decades, the Fed needs Americans to curb their spending, even if it requires an economic slowdown to get there. ‘It’s painful to get back to normal after really being in a fantasy world last year,’ said John Norris, chief economist at Oakworth Capital Bank.”

The Evening Standard. “The crash was so spectacular that some people are calling it the Lehman Brothers of the crypto world. The market value of cryptocurrencies, almost $3 trillion in November, is now just $1.3 trillion.The largest crypto-trading platform in the US, Coinbase, lost half its value in a week and has warned users they could lose their money if the company goes bankrupt. Founder Brian Armstrong has seen $11 billion vanish from his personal wealth. He’s just one of the ‘crypto bros’ who lost vast sums.”

“The reason for the crash is debated. Some say it was due to a general fall in financial markets. ‘It’s not just crypto, it’s everything,’ says Oleg Giberstein, co-founder of London-based crypto trading startup Coinrule. ‘Netflix is down, tax stocks are down. The markets are depressed. Crypto is a risky asset class so gets hit the worst.’ Oleg, who set up Coinrule three years ago, says Luna was also ‘an absolute disaster.'”

“Another, who said he became a millionaire aged 20 thanks to crypto, has lost his fortune and his girlfriend. ‘I was looking for some good long-term holds,’ he adds. ‘My cousin informed me about Luna. I was really intrigued with what he told me, so intrigued that I decided that my money would be safe there. Stupidly I bought over 55k Luna at $80+ during the dip.’ Now it’s worth less than $500 and when he told his girlfriend the news she dumped him. ‘I wish I could go back in time,’ he says.”

“For some it’s been life-ruining. One Reddit user said: ‘I lost over $450k USD, I cannot pay the bank. I will lose my home soon. I’ll become homeless. Suicide is the only way out for me.'”

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This Post Has 161 Comments

  1. ‘because they don’t have to have an appraisal, they don’t have to have the full underwriting. So values can climb quickly,’ Hughes said. ‘And now, that becomes comparable for somebody else who’s actually getting financing’

    That’s some rock solid lending right there.

    2. I found out last week in this midwestern state that the appraiser gets a copy of the contract. Yeah, so guess what the appraisals always come back at? Exactly the contract price. (not one dollar more or less). Even the realtors think it’s a joke. When even the realtors think it’s a joke………..

  2. ‘Now it’s worth less than $500 and when he told his girlfriend the news she dumped him. ‘I wish I could go back in time’

    Wuv, true wuv.

      1. Thank you for pointing out my failures :). I only set the extension to test for 3 character extensions, so ‘jpeg’ isn’t seen as valid. Fix incoming!

        1. Anything for falling housing prices.

          Hows that Falling Housing Price Web Crawler coming along?

  3. ‘Didi Global Inc. is widely expected to secure a blessing from shareholders on Monday to delist in New York, capping an 11-month ordeal that wiped out around $60 billion of its market value and turned the ride-hailing giant into a symbol of China’s tech crackdown’

    Maybe sub-minimum wage taxis aren’t tech? China continues to tear things down.

  4. ‘It’s FOGS: fear of getting screwed. When you start to hear conversations like the price of townhouses in Brampton is falling $15,000 a week, that’s very exciting to people. That is extremely impactful. And when enough people hear it, it’s frightening.’

    But Ron, these were the winnahs! Wa happened?

    1. Brampton is my favorite bellweather for Toronto. Been monitoring and reporting falling prices there for over a year. The reactions are irrational and uncontrolled.

      What is it about falling housing prices that causes such rage?

      Capistrano Beach, CA Housing Prices Crater 24% As Mortgage Defaults Balloon

      https://www.movoto.com/ca/92624/market-trends/

    2. “…the price of townhouses in Brampton is falling $15,000 a week, that’s very exciting to people.”

      I will be very excited, and ready with crocodile tears to commiserate with my homeowner friends, when similar news hits San Diego shores.

  5. ‘In the dot-com era, and in the current market run-up and decline this year, there was a fervent, largely mindless belief that a subset of investments would go up in price forever’

    Wait a minute, I think I’ve seen this movie before!

    1. I’ve seen this movie before
      And I have to admit it’s no bore
      But the lying, the dying, the late night crying,
      I have to confess I can’t take it no more.

  7. Real Journalists.

    How Davos became a target for conspiracy theorists and anarchists:

    https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/23/davos-the-world-economic-forum-is-grappling-with-an-image-problem.html

    No article excerpt needed.

    The World Economic Forum is the enemy of humanity. Its members know how hated they are, and that their only friends and supporters are each other, and the fluffer class of lawyers and accountants and money launderers and arms traffickers that enable the continuance of their criminal cartel.

    1. Journalist Jack Posobiec And Film Crew Detained At Davos (5/23/2022):

      “Journalist Jack Posobiec and his crew were briefly detained without explanation in Davos, Switzerland on Monday, where the World Economic Forum has kicked off its annual conference.

      The policewoman said “We’re just making a normal police patrol, because you know, it’s WEF…”

      “Is there a reason he specifically was targeted?” the woman asked.

      “There is a reason, because we have to have a reason to control a person.”

      When asked what the reason was, the policewoman said “I don’t have to tell you.”

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/journalist-jack-posobiec-and-film-crew-detained-davos

      As I mentioned on a previous thread, the members / attendees of the WEF are not soft targets, they will not be an easy get.

      But that doesn’t change the fact that they all need to die. It’s gonna take some effort, but yes, they all need to die. All of them.

      1. Oh what heroes a couple of disgruntled chefs with some slow acting poison would be.

    1. Check that, you can choose to pay rent, eat yourself, or beg to find formula to feed your baby….I hope you don’t need gas to get to the formula you cannot find btw.

    3. Also get your bicycle tuned up, because you won’t be able to afford to drive anywhere.

          1. “Snow tires with studs”

            I remember them and the whiiiiring sound they made as they helped destroy the pothole ridden sh#ty freeze and thaw salt covered car rusting frozen slushy roads of New England in Region 1

            I used to love me some frozen slushy roads.

  10. “That is partially because many of these homes that are now valued at $1 million or more, are double, and in some cases, triple, what they were valued at three to four years ago. ‘They’re pulling equity out of their places elsewhere, and bringing them here, and our prices still look pretty affordable to some,’ Hughes said. ‘That’s a really interesting factor because they don’t have to have an appraisal, they don’t have to have the full underwriting. So values can climb quickly,’”

    Any thoughts on how long before insanity goes out of fashion in Boise?

    2. It will be very painful for these gamblers when the median Boise price heads back below $200,000. Which, by the way, is still very expensive given many of these houses are more than 30 years old.

        1. Agreed. When the last bubble popped, the median price pretty quickly fell from around $280,000 in 2006 down to around $100,000 in 2010-12. A lot of dead broke donkeys will be lining up at the rescue mission for a free bowl of crater stew.

          1. And hopefully my husband and I will scoop up a house with enough room for our little ones.

    3. “They’re pulling equity out of their places elsewhere, and bringing them here, and our prices still look pretty affordable to some”

      If you’re having to pull equity out of another overvalued place, it’s not affordable.

      1. I see a lot of click bait that says “Don’t borrow from the bank, borrow from yourself!” Nevermind you are borrowing from the bank, paying interest to the bank and if you default your shack, which you have put up as collateral, will be foreclosed and taken from you by the bank.

  11. “That is partially because many of these homes that are now valued at $1 million or more, are double, and in some cases, triple, what they were valued at three to four years ago. ‘They’re pulling equity out of their places elsewhere, and bringing them here”

    There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call “The Equity Zone”.

    https://youtu.be/If3SXJeZzMQ

  12. There’s some big happenings in Euroland right now.

    Predicted consequence: Another step closer to crytogeddon. The better fiats look, the less attractive imaginary currencies look.

    1. The Financial Times
      European Central Bank
      Eurozone to end negative interest rates within months, Lagarde indicates
      ECB president’s remarks send euro and yields up
      Christine Lagarde, pictured in Frankfurt in March
      ECB president Christine Lagarde signalled a rapid end to negative interest rates in a blog post on Monday
      Martin Arnold in Frankfurt and Tommy Stubbington in London
      4 hours ago

      Christine Lagarde has signalled for the first time that the European Central Bank’s eight-year experiment with negative rates will end within months, saying borrowing costs are on track to hit zero by the end of September.

      The ECB president wrote in a blog on Monday that, “based on the current outlook”, the institution was “likely to be in a position to exit negative interest rates by the end of the third quarter”. The deposit rate is now minus 0.5 per cent and has been in negative territory since 2014, when the region was facing a sovereign debt crisis.

      The euro hit its highest level for a month against the dollar, partially offsetting concerns among officials that a weaker single currency would exacerbate price pressures. Borrowing costs for eurozone governments rose on the back of the remarks.
      …

      1. Translation: If you HODL negative yield Euro bonds, you’re fooked in the arse.

  14. Do they really think that we are going to stop talking about how the 2020 election was stolen?

    The 2020 election was stolen.

      1. “For Democrats and many in the media, Hillary Clinton has long held a Voldemort-like status as “She who must not be named” in scandals. Yet, there was her former campaign manager, Robby Mook, telling a jury that Clinton personally approved a plan to spread the claim of covert communications between the Trump organization and the Russian bank. It was one of the most successful disinformation campaigns in American politics, and Mook implicated Clinton as green-lighting the gas-lighting of the electorate.”

  15. The Left is thrilled with high gasoline and energy prices, it’s what they want. The only thing they would like better than $6 a gallon gas is $10 a gallon gas.

    Biden: “I Guarantee You We’re Going To End Fossil Fuel”
    Sep 6, 2019

    https://youtu.be/Slszva6kk90

    1. Gas Price Hits $7.29 in Los Angeles

      by Chris Menahan | Information Liberation
      May 23rd 2022, 2:52 am

    2. Biden: “I Guarantee You We’re Going To End Fossil Fuel”

      He’s making Putin RICH.

    3. I predict DeSantis lands a body blow to Brandon by announcing State workers can work from home to save themselves from Democrat gas inflation.

      Red state Governors follow suit. Makes a great political ad.

  16. “I am obviously acutely aware that my presence at this podium represents a few firsts,” Jean-Pierre said as she began the afternoon briefing. “I am a Black, gay, immigrant woman. The first of all three of those to hold this position.”

    Evidently she’s not a very smart Black, gay, immigrant woman.

    I am a second-generation Irish, male, heterosexual American citizen but I wouldn’t brag about it if I had her job because I would be afraid all the other second-generation Irish, male, heterosexual American citizens would kick my @ss when I said sh#t like this…

    How does raising taxes on the rich lower inflation? Karine Jean-Pierre has no idea..

    May 16, 2022

    https://youtu.be/J90lXDAoeCA

    1. “I am a second-generation Irish, male, heterosexual American citizen but I wouldn’t brag about it if I had her job because I would be afraid all the other second-generation Irish, male, heterosexual American citizens would kick my @ss when I said sh#t like this…”

      About the same result if I walked in an irish bar and started mouthing off…… I’d very likely be picking my teeth up off the floor.

    2. I am a Black, gay, immigrant woman. The first of all three of those to hold this position

      She sounds like an inbred British aristocrat rattling off her titles: I’m the Baroness of Fish and Chip, the Viscountess of Chutney and the Duchess of Marmite.

  18. “For some it’s been life-ruining. One Reddit user said: ‘I lost over $450k USD, I cannot pay the bank. I will lose my home soon. I’ll become homeless. Suicide is the only way out for me.’”

    Buh-bye, sucka!

    1. Nothing a BK can’t fix. Of course, this means he will have to get … gasp! … a job!

      I suppose that for some suicide might be preferable to working.

      1. I suppose that for some suicide might be preferable to working.
        Now now, some people weren’t meant to work. They are much smarter than you and just too “slick” to be bothered with what you losers do, you know, work.. I’ve known a few and yeah, they are all broke a$$ losers. Funny though, the wife/girlfriend usually has a real job and works.

        1. Funny though, the wife/girlfriend usually has a real job and works.

          It pays to be Chad Thunder****.

  19. Buy the dip, sell the rip is alive and well. The DOW has made a parabolic move of over 1,300 in less than a day.

  20. There’s a woman I met within the past year who’s on somewhat shaky financial ground. She is in debt and at her age the economic prospects look a little grim. She is highly educated.

    She has been covertly gauging my financial status, asking certain questions which leave nothing to my imagination even though she probably thinks they sound innocent. She has essentially glommed onto me through a friend.

    I have been totally blowing off her advances. Her future appears to be one of poverty, but I’m not taking on that sinking ship. She’s on her own.

    1. Yeah people like that worry me, other women my age or men, doesn’t matter. Because if they aren’t financially secure by now they can get pretty desperate and try to worm their way into your business. To “help” you and all.

      Too bad really because I could use some friends.

      2. Too bad really because I could use some friends. In my old age I’ve made several new friends & renewed old friendships going back to 2nd grade. Only problem is, they keep dying on me!

        1. My grandmother Euphemia told me when she was 102, and she called me Malcolm, her son’s name, that everyone she had ever known was dead, She said she never intended to get that old. She lasted another two years, not as an hundred plus but as a teenager frolicking in the Scottish fields of heather.

          May your childhood memories be so kind to you (and me).

    2. I’m not taking on that sinking ship

      Years ago a woman seemed quite interested in me. She made “innocent” inquiries about my living arrangements. I said I had already told her I was living on my boat. She; But what about your house, when you’re not boating. LOL. I live on my boat. It’s a boat.

      Never heard from her again.

      2. I was also going to say, driving a beater is also gold digger repellant. My 10 year old Kia is low on miles and still looks and runs fine; but it is painfully obvious that it is an old car that was cheap even when it was new.

          2. It’s in good condition for its age. The funny thing is “gold diggers” must not be very smart, because some guys that appear broke have way more in the bank than the ballers that are one paycheck away from the repo man.

          3. because some guys that appear broke have way more in the bank

            Very true. But then those guys aren’t going to spend that money on her either.

        2. “…is also gold digger repellant….”

          Works every time, especially when you say ‘hope you don’t mind the beach sand on your seat’

          (I have a 2003 Chevy S-10 with 260K miles.)

          BTW, great truck.. Only real maintenance is several sets of new tires and 4 batteries since new…..

          2. “…so that’s a great engine….”

            Agree 100%

            Should of mentioned that I am very careful with regular LOF and PM’s. If you change out oil filter (and oil) on a strict 3k-5k schedule your engine will last forever… Have changed out the brakes a few times, but with stick shift and careful driving, they will last long time also.

          3. I flush the brake fluid at all four corners every spring on all our vehicles when the winter tires and wheels are swapped out for the summer set.

        3. I had a 5 year old Kia that worked great and I planned to drive forever until it got totaled in a car wreck thanks to some idiot running a red light. It would have been nice to be driving a 15 year old, completely paid off, used Kia while I just lobbed money in the bank instead of making a car payment.

    3. even when I was young, my test was when I get paid I take you out when you get paid you take me out, it worked quite well.

  21. I will trade 3 unopened cans of baby formula for a 3 bed 2 bath updated ranch. I will need an inspection though.

    2. So this company combined a credit card with lay away, without making revenue, sold stock, and is now laying off workers?

      Oh the humanity!

    2. Reminds me of a guy in prison for killing his wife’s new steadily employed beau. The divorce was final, but he couldn’t let go. From a distance he’d watch his kids laughing and riding on the guy’s shoulders during “family” outings. But his dog fetching the Frisbee and returning it with an energetic wagging tail pausing long enough for an attaboy patting was just too much…the beau’s fate was sealed!

      1. Marriage is a sham. It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. She’s not yours, it’s just your turn.

        2. Marriage is a sham.

          As a child of divorce, I wasn’t a fan. I lost two pregnancies before I committed 14 years ago.

      2. That is really pathetic; you have to feel sorry for chumps like that. And I’m not referring to the bloke in prison. I’m referring to the steadily employed beta chump that had to settle for sloppy seconds and pay for someone else’s kids. He really walked into a trap.

        1. LOL never buy into a ready made family

          Otoh, dating these days i hear from friends is like meeting the pronoun brigade, all feminists, women are the only demographic that gives Biden a more than 50% approval rating. A conservative guy with a job has a tough time meeting a good conservative girl. I’ve heard the horror stories from divorced friends.

    1. ‘distressed selling’

      Buying a house at the top of the market before selling the old place in a falling market is a classic Donkey Death Trap.

      1. They are experiencing, like others, the pitfalls of having prices go up 40% in two years. Some areas were way above that. Even in ordinary mid-mania pullbacks one might expect 15-20% over a year. These GTA shack’s have already dropped more than that since March!

        New Zealand is the same. Some guy will forecast a 30 or 40% “correction,” and point out that only takes us back to last October. Eventually I suspect people will start to view this CCP virus boom as the classic blow off top. In these super bubble places anyway. Like Boise.

    2. “…people who bought at the peak having to sell.”

      They’re already 10% or more upside down at closing having incurred the usual expenses, and then they’re forced to sell at a lower price too. The Joshua Tree doesn’t discriminate, shags ’em all the same way!

    3. Who would be selling a house a couple months after buying it? This makes no sense whatsoever.

      1. They are closing on a house that they “bought” a couple of months ago (at the peak). The deal now stinks.

    2. saw a payphone outside Yosemite main store last month. I was so stunned that I walked over to it, picked up the reciever. yep, even had a dial tone.

      (then I woke up on a reclining couch with a bunch o’ oddballs yammering away at me about some “Matrix” or some such . . but hell, I was so happy to be free of my ball n’ chain I replied: “I don’t care what those colored pills do, gimme one of each!”)

  27. It’s OVER: The California Housing Market Is SHIFTING

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLVKFrr8GZ0

    May 23, 2022

    12:40. This video is from a OC UHS.

    A comment:

    ‘Irvine I believe is still in the delusional phase. I was reading that less than 50 percent of the property in Irvine is owner occupied. A lot of the inventory on the market here is from investors looking for a fool to buy the property at a ridiculously high price after just owning it for a few years and renting it out. At current levels nothing in this area has good cash flow due to property taxes and nosebleed asking prices. I literally just saw a house fall out of escrow and then the owner increased the price to above 3 million dollars with interest rates rising. The property taxes at that level in the great park area would around $55,000 a year. I am keeping an eye on this property because homes at much lower prices are now sitting. This is a dangerous time to buy a property. Based on current interest rates it looks like property is 30 to 40% more expensive than it was when rates were at 4.5% in 2018 so I just can’t see a lot of buyers signing up for a very risky financial decision. It will be interesting to see what the market will be like 6 months from now 🍿’

    2. “…Irvine I believe is still in the delusional phase…”

      I am resident of Irvine for 43+ years.

      The local Irvine REIConplex really is smoking crack. No question about it. These people are a bunch of wackos.. Trust me.

      Very familiar with the Great Park area. (Constructed just in last few years, subject of major political food fights for the last 20 years [ever since the Marine Corps left])

      Those $3mm homes are Alice in Wonderland homes. The streets are narrow and the homes themselves are built to a weird 7/8 scale to pack more into a square area.

      That area is claustrophobic. Its the exact same feeling I got as a kid when we got stoned and visited the old ghost town at Knotts Berry Farm.

      I was over to that area a few months ago to purchase some bike parts and if the sellers front door was just a few inches shorter I would of banged by head.. (I am only 6′).

      These aren’t $3mm homes. They are $300K homes (if that) for families of short stature. What a complete joke.

      1. “…Irvine I believe is still in the delusional phase…”

        Irvine is a nice area, IMHO.

  28. Whoop, there it is…the globalist Quislings drop the mask a bit more each day.

    Australian eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant tells the World Economic Forum we need a “recalibration” of freedom of speech.

    https://twitter.com/AndrewLawton/status/1528779966644731906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1528779966644731906%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Ffreedom-speech-needs-recalibration-aussie-commissioner-sparks-outrage-wef

    1. This globalist skank needs two shots of recalibration to the back of the skull.

      Australia is a lost cause, and a valuable lesson of what happens when a nation gives up their guns.

      1. when a nation gives up their guns.

        I like guns very much. I was on the Varsity Rifle Team in college (yes, that old) and shot a “300” in competition once. I have done some black powder builds and just love to shoot and hunt. Even learned to do fletching on cedar shaft arrows from Grampa.

        However, I don’t think what has happened in Australia, and is progressing along here, is in any way due to lack of guns. We are lacking something else. House flipping and trading bitcoin is more important to some than Freedom.

        1. House flipping and trading bitcoin is more important to some than Freedom.

          Many people believe that as long as they have enough money, they will be fine.

      2. There is a large percentage of women who are unfit as leaders. Their emotions cloud their better judgment. When times are tough, you need leaders who don’t wilt under pressure. These globalist skanks peddling woke culture are the worst of the worst. They will lead nations to ruin.

          2. As a retired baby boomer, I’d say that a large proportion of the WORST bosses I’ve seen were female. They had an “attitude” like they were some kind of heroine just because they could get out of bed in the morning and put trousers on. They wanted to be celebrated as God’s gift to humanity. In other words, feminists.

            Crappy male bosses just tended to be jerks. Jerks were easier to live with than feminists.

          3. the WORST bosses I’ve seen were female

            Try working for a female attorney. I almost lost my son and lost my job because of one. I only refer to her by the “c” word.

    1. State Farm Launches Program to Distribute LGBTQ Books to Kindergartners
      I have been with State Farm for over 30 years.
      That may need to change later this year.

      1. I have been with State Farm for over 30 years.

        I’m an Allstate sucker, but if they go down this road too they’ll dropped, Netflix style.

      2. I have been covered continuously by State Farm for 60 years (I am 76 y/o now).
        I saw today the they had reversed this program so I will wait to see if it was. Otherwise my policies (2 car, 2 houses) will move to Allstate.

  31. $5 billion a month for money laundering, human trafficking, and arms trafficking.

    Zelensky Requests $5 Billion a Month from Global Community in World Economic Forum Speech (5/23/2022):

    “In the three-day summit’s opening address, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, dressed in his trademark wartime olive-green T-shirt, and projected on monitors from Kyiv, told about 1,000 CEOs and government officials that Ukraine needs $5 billion a month, beginning immediately, in order to stave off full-blown economic collapse—a collapse that would have deep global ramifications.

    “The amount of work is enormous,” he said. “We have more than a half a trillion dollars in losses, and tens of thousands of facilities destroyed. We need to rebuild entire cities and industries.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/05/zelensky-requests-5-billion-month-global-community-sells-investment-ukraine/

    I hope the Russians torture him after they capture him, and record video of it.

    I am a United States citizen, I own NOTHING to this @sshole, NOTHING.

    P.S. Russia is winning.

    1. Correction: I owe nothing to this @sshole, and I will own nothing as a result of the United States giving our tax dollars to this piece of $hit.

      Zelensky needs to die.

      Somebody. Please. Kill. Him. Already.

      1. I’m certain that if he’s ever in any real danger that he will go into exile, probably somewhere on the Mediterranean.

      2. Do you think he’s really running the show? I don’t. I think he’s a paid actor.

        1. a paid actor

          His resume sure backs that up:

          In 2015, Zelenskyy became the star of the television series Servant of the People, where he played the role of the president of Ukraine.

          It’s an acting role he’s played before. The start of his day must be interesting. His handlers give him scripts to read and memorize while the costume and makeup artists transform him into the brave warrior leader of the people.

    2. “The amount of work is enormous,” he said. “We have more than a half a trillion dollars in losses, and tens of thousands of facilities destroyed. We need to rebuild entire cities and industries.”

      The big boys like Brown & Root and Halliburton are waiting for the “all clear” signal to help rebuild their schitt. The money will never leave this country; it’ll just change bank accounts. Lots of senators from both sides of the aisle are salivating too.

      1. The corruption in the US is at levels never before seen. The globalist warmongering cvcks are milking us dry. I fear it’s too far gone.

  32. Dems in the Centennial State must be worried. Governor Polis is sending out next year’s TABOR refunds this September, meaning voters will be getting it just before the midterms:

    It’s official: Colorado taxpayers can expect to receive at least $500 in the mail by September, thanks to legislation signed by Gov. Jared Polis on Monday.

    The new law, Senate Bill 233, will refund up to 85% of excess state revenue collected last year. This expedites the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refund — originally scheduled for the spring of 2023 — to mere months before the November election.

    The refund amounts will depend on state revenue, though current estimates say the checks will be at least $500 for individual tax filers and $1,000 for joint filers. Taxpayers will receive equal payments, regardless of income.

    TABOR refunds are usually defined by income level: the more you paid, the more you get back. For tax year 2021 the refund was $37 to $117 per taxpayer.

    While I always welcome getting tax money back, this is clear vote pandering.

  33. The FBI serves the same function for the DNC that the Soviet NKVD did for the Communist Party: regime protection and targeting of “Enemies of the State.” A top-to-bottom purge of the corrupt and compromised from the DoJ and FBI is in order to put a stop to these Stasi-like abuses of authority.

    FBI wrongly told its agents Trump-Russia collusion claims had come from DOJ, bombshell document reveals

    https://nypost.com/2022/05/23/fbi-told-agents-trump-russia-data-source-was-from-doj-not-clinton-tied-lawyer/

    WASHINGTON — FBI agents probing since-debunked claims of a secret back channel between Donald Trump and a Russian bank believed that the allegations had originated with the Department of Justice — when in fact they camefrom Hillary Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann, who had shopped them to the bureau’s then-general counsel days earlier.

    In the latest revelation to emerge from Sussmann’s trial in DC federal court on a count of lying to the FBI, special counsel John Durham’s prosecutors revealed that investigators had received an electronic communication citing a referral from the DOJ “on or about” Sept. 19, 2016, the same day Sussmann met with James Baker, then the FBI’s top lawyer.

    1. the minimum wage should be $30/hour

      Of course, the minimum should always be higher than the median.

    2. Math and economics are obviously not her strong suit. Has anybody asked her to comment on inflation, and what caused it?

  35. Florida, UHS in Lee and Collier Counties:

    HOUSE PRICES ARE FALLING! Let’s Take A LOOK!
    May 23, 2022 Home Prices Are Falling!

    ‘In this video I walk you through how you can find more motivated sellers by looking for homes that are doing price reductions. When a home seller reduces price, it usually indicates tow things: The home seller maybe more motivated or the home seller may have overpriced the property.’

    ‘Regardless, home sellers are dropping prices and we are seeing a shift in the real estate market.’

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7N2KTHVxXY

    11 minutes.

  36. Live stream:

    Phoenix Real Estate Market Update | Phoenix, AZ
    76 watching now Premiere in progress. The Phoenix real estate market is continuing on the softening trend, and the next domino is about to fall. The Phoenix Listing Success Rate is heading downard which means fewer homes are selling successfully and sellers are losing leverage.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YunaU166ieM

    1. I’d actually choose Boise over Phoenix. I still can’t believe people would actually choose to live in that furnace.

  37. Capistrano Beach, CA Housing Prices Crater 24% As Orange County Mortgage Defaults Balloon; Inventory Sits And Rots

    https://www.movoto.com/ca/92624/market-trends/

    As an Orange County broker explained, “We’re seeing double digit prices declines in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. It’s just like the last bust.”

  38. RIP but for some reason I got a hankering for a cheeseburger.

    Robert Vlasic (1926–2022), instrumental in the success of Vlasic Pickles

    By Kirk Fox May 23, 2022

  39. Hanging up on an era: Last public pay phone in NYC removed from streets

    By Rolando Pujol
    Monday, May 23, 2022 5:42PM

    MIDTOWN MANHATTAN (WABC) — Once, not so long ago, pay phones were a common sight all around New York City, and they had been for over a century. But then came cellular phones in the late 1990s, and the number of public phones began to decline. And later, smart phones like the iPhone arrived. And pay phones kept disappearing.

    And finally, on Monday, the inevitable happened. The last public pay phone, still featuring the classic Bell System logo, was unplugged from the streets of New York City, on Seventh Avenue and West 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

    https://abc7ny.com/pay-phone-payphone-last-nyc-public/11885356/

  40. In honor of the last public pay phone in NYC being removed I will be posting some songs that just wouldn’t have been the same if i-phones had been around.

    Sylvia’s Mother

    Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show

    https://youtu.be/z9vRBPtXK5w

      2. My buddies and I enjoyed our high school years much more than we otherwise might have, thanks to Jim Croce’s musical enrichment.

  41. Some local news.

    Colorado Sun — Is calling Denver a “toilet bowl” a winning message for Colorado Republicans in 2022? (5/24/2022):

    “A toilet bowl.” “A city that no one wants to come to.” “There’s nobody out there that says Denver’s great anymore.”

    Those were three takes on the Mile High City earlier this month from three different Republican state representatives. The remarks were made during a news conference recapping the 2022 legislative session and they raised eyebrows given the upcoming election.

    “They have basically let the downtown area become a toilet bowl,” said Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican. “You feel safe in our part of Colorado.”

    House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, R-Loveland, said Denver is a “city out of control,” referencing crime.

    “I would challenge anybody that’s saying that Denver is not on a downward spiral,” said Rep. Colin Larson, a Ken Caryl Republican and one of the last GOP lawmakers in the Denver suburbs. “I would just have to say that doesn’t pass the smell test.”

    https://coloradosun.com/2022/05/24/house-republicans-blast-denver-2022/

    The smell test?

    Today’s high is only in the 50s, but it will be close to 90 on Friday. Go out and suck some of that sweet Denver aroma into your nostrils, and remind yourself what happens when a city votes 80% Democrat Party.

    “They’re not sending their best”

    1. I’ve stopped attending events at the convention center. There’s no way I’m going to the cesspool known as downtown Denver.

  43. Are you trying to catch yourself a falling knife by jumping into the bull trap rally?

    1. The Financial Times
      Cryptocurrencies
      $40bn crypto collapse turns South Korea against the ‘Lunatic’ leader
      Implosion of cryptocurrency offering 20% yield makes developer Do Kwon ‘the most hated man in Korea’
      Do Kwon in the offices of Terraform Labs
      South Korean prosecutors have launched an investigation into Do Kwon’s Terraform Labs
      Christian Davies and Song Jung-a in Seoul yesterday

      After Do Kwon indicated he would inject $300mn into the reserves that underpinned the 20 per cent yield on his luna cryptocurrency, a Twitter user asked him where the money would come from.

      Kwon’s response was succinct: “Your mom, obviously.”

      Now, the brash 30-year-old South Korean, who routinely derides his critics as “poor”, is being asked to account for this month’s $40bn collapse of a creation he once described as “the oldest and most widely used algo[rithmic] stablecoin in existence”, before adding: “Bow before the king.”

      As the losses mounted, South Korean press reports linked the crash with a local surge in online searches for Seoul’s Mapo Bridge, a reputed suicide spot. Local police announced increased patrols around the bridge in response.

      On Friday, South Korean prosecutors launched an investigation into Kwon’s Terraform Labs after five local crypto investors with combined damages of Won1.4bn ($1.1mn) filed a criminal complaint alleging fraud and breach of financial regulations.

      “Do Kwon was like a successful cult leader,” said Donghwan Kim of Blitz Labs, a Seoul-based crypto advisory firm. “But now he’s the most hated man in Korea.”
      …

  45. Good morning HBB.

    Did you know that the 2020 election was stolen?

    The 2020 election was stolen.

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