The Last Two Years, We’ve Been Living In A Fantasy Land
A report from the Pioneer Press in Minnesota. “‘We don’t seem to be selling stuff like $40,000 or $50,000 over list price, with offers like ‘You can name my first child,’ quipped Justin DuChemin, a real estate agent with Re/Max, recalling the feeding frenzy that made for unusual national headlines as recently as March. ‘Overall, home sales are definitely down,’ said DuChemin, who is helping to sell his neighbor’s home in Maplewood. Buyers ‘are not gangbusters to move into the next phase. There’s a disparity right now between what sellers want to sell their homes for and what buyers are willing to pay.’ Sellers are increasingly surprised, and sometimes disappointed.”
CBS 46 in Georgia. “Demand for homes is cooling down in the metro Atlanta housing market. ‘My housing search started a few months ago when I felt like I was financially and finally in the right place to start looking,’ said Angel Marie. When the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage surged to as high as 5.81% in late June, according to Freddie Mac, many people decided to wait before putting an offer. And that has forced some sellers to reduce prices. ‘I’ve already seen houses and condos dropping by the thousands,’ said Marie.”
From KSAT in Texas. “‘You’re trying to figure out what’s going on,’ said Lawrence Dean, an analyst with Zonda Home, a provider of research for the homebuilding and housing sectors. ‘And so are we.’ Dean delivered that quip at the Greater San Antonio Builders Association on August 9, before an audience of developers, builders, brokers and other analysts. According to a recent Zonda survey of homebuilders in San Antonio, 87% stated they plan on slowing down housing starts, citing weak sales activity and too much inventory. ‘This pause will let us assess the market,’ one unnamed builder said in the Zonda report. Dean noted that cancellations increased at a peak 50% in June, compared to cancellation increases below 10% in January 2021.”
The Dallas Business Journal in Texas. “The North Texas housing market is downshifting quickly, with Dallas-Fort Worth being the only U.S. market to see a decrease in home sale prices last month, according to a report. ‘Reasonably priced homes that are in good condition and move-in ready are still selling very fast,’ said Todd Luong, a realtor with Re/Max DFW Associates. ‘However, the bidding wars have subsided considerably across the board.'”
From The Street. “‘The spike in searches about a housing crash suggests homeowners, particularly those thinking of selling, are increasingly nervous about their market timing,’ the RubyHome report stated. ‘If interest rates keep going up, purchasing power will continue to erode, putting more downward pressure on home prices until they reach parity with what people can afford.’ ‘Said another way, sellers will eventually have to capitulate,’ the report added.”
“‘The U.S. housing market is primarily stable,’ said Carol Horton, chief marketing officer at Texas-based homebuilder Kindred Homes. However, builders are slowing down on permits/starts to help offset the slowdown in demand. ‘Builders have a record number of homes currently under construction,’ Horton said.”
The Orlando Business Journal in Florida. “Central Florida’s calming residential real estate market finally has translated to a price decrease. Metro Orlando’s median home sales price fell 1.6% from $387,000 in June to $380,900 in July, the first time the metro’s median home price fell since a slight decline from December to January. The price decline in July was accompanied by dropping home sales and surging inventory, according to the latest Orlando Regional Realtor Association data.”
“There’s a definite change happening in the region’s housing market, but it’s a welcome change after two years of all-out bidding wars and nearly nonstop price escalation, Mainframe Real Estate LLC agent Anne-Marie Wurzel told Orlando Business Journal. ‘The last two years, we’ve been living in a fantasy land.'”
ABC 11 Raleigh North Carolina. “‘It’s a great time to buy because you have choices. We haven’t had choices. Compared to last summer, where there was none now you can go out and go look at five or six houses and actually make an offer and not feel like you have to make that offer yesterday,’ explained real estate broker Maya Galletta.”
The Daily American. “A typical Somerset County home listed for $180,000 in July, down 14.3% from the previous month’s $210,000, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows. Across all of Pennsylvania, median home prices were $295,000, falling 1.3% from a month earlier. The median Pennsylvania home for sale had 1,748 square feet at list price of $173 per square foot.”
From Go Local Prov. “The Rhode Island Association of Realtors is reporting that the monthly median price of single-family homes has fallen from $430,000 in June to $410,000 for July. This is one of the only significant month-over-month decreases in years. Closed transactions of single-family homes also fell 13.4% last month, and pending sales dropped 18.2% year-over-year.”
The Center Square. “A survey of Kentucky Realtors shows confidence in the state’s housing market is close to where it stood at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey of real estate professionals conducted last month by HousingIQ found 73% expect sellers to reduce their asking prices. Worse, 89% anticipate houses will stay on the market longer. Vidur Dhanda, who authored the report, said higher interest rates combined with inflation and general economic unease are causing some buyers to think twice. In the survey, a quarter of the Realtors acknowledged they’ve had buyers cancel contracts. In addition, 47% said some of their clients cut their asking price by at least 5%.”
“The Kentucky Realtor survey isn’t the only survey that shows a vulnerable market. Last week, Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index dropped two points to 62.8 in July. With only 17% of consumers saying it’s a good time to buy a house, national consumer confidence is at its lowest since 2011.”
Bisnow New York. “In 2020, the pandemic precipitated a mass migration event of well-heeled New Yorkers to the swanky beach towns of the Hamptons on Long Island. But the reality of in-person schooling and return-to-office mandates means the city expats of 2020 and 2021 are heading back to their normal lives this year, leaving behind a slew of problems — like a punishing labor shortage and exacerbated housing crisis — in their wake. ‘The town is bursting at the seams,’ one person in the Hamptons complained to Vanity Fair September 2020. ‘Nobody is f*cking leaving.'”
“They are now, Kristin Sheeler said. She owns a clothing store with locations in Montauk, Bridgehampton and Westhampton Beach. ‘I don’t think you’d ever understand what an East Coast beach winter is like,’ she said. ‘The sun goes down at 4 p.m. … It’s cold, it’s wet, and there’s no one here.'”
From KTNV Las Vegas in Nevada. “Dawn Houlf, Managing Broker with Exit Realty Number 1, says just in three months things have changed drastically. She says it’s now a buyer’s market and sellers are getting the short end of the stick. ‘There is going to be that negotiation between buyer and seller whereas 3, 4, 5, months ago it was all sellers and there were no negotiations, I have never seen it where people are waving appraisal contingencies, waiving appraisals, inspections, just to get into a house,’ Houlf said.”
“Rebecca & Luis Rodriguez have been trying to sell their home since May. While they are in no rush to sell. They think it’s going to be a lot harder than it would have been at the beginning of the year. ‘The seller that needs to sell a home is having a tough time and they have to decide can we afford to drop our price, is its necessity to drop our price because of an employment situation or economic situation,’ said Rodriguez.”
The Denver Post. “Colorado homeowners who are tapping their home equity this year aren’t holding back, borrowing about 50% more on average than consumers in other states. ‘People are chomping at the bit to get home equity loans,’ said Jacob Channel, a senior economist with LendingTree. Nowhere are they chomping more than in Colorado. During the housing boom in the ’00s, people used home equity to purchase additional homes and fund more lavish spending, so much so that homes became referred to as automated teller machines. And when those ATMs stopped spitting out dollars, consumers found themselves overextended and the economy lost a source driving higher spending.”
“The credit bureau TransUnion measured a 41% jump in the number of HELOCs issued nationally in the second quarter — 291,736 vs. 207,422 a year earlier.”
The Bakersfield Californian. “Once notorious, adjustable-rate mortgages have made a comeback lately as homebuyers wrestling with rising interest rates take on greater financial risk in exchange for lower payments, recalling for some the lending excesses that contributed to the housing bust of 2006-07. Bakersfield appraiser and home market observer Gary Crabtree called ARMs a ‘death knell’ to the market. He blamed them for the recession more than 40 years ago when, during the Carter administration, a mortgage product that over time increased borrowers’ monthly payments allowed people to qualify for loans they couldn’t afford two or three years later.”
“He expressed a general skepticism of ARMs. ‘ARMs never made sense in a down-trending market,’ Crabtree said. His latest home-market report from late July showed Bakersfield was on pace for a third-consecutive monthly decline in median home sale prices, a key gauge. Chuck Smith, chief lending officer at Valley Strong Credit Union, said ARMs have remained a relatively steady share of mortgage loans at the Bakersfield-based institution. As he sees it, the loan product has gotten a ‘bad rap.’ ‘That was not what caused it,’ Smith said, referring to the bust. ‘What caused it was people were getting put into homes they couldn’t afford.’ ARMs exacerbated the bust, he added.”
From KRON 4 in California. “Bay Area home values are falling, not plummeting. However, a Zillow report finds they are dipping dramatically. As sellers lower prices with less demand, the drop is outpacing the rest of the country. ‘In San Jose, prices dropped 4.5% in a single month from June to July, and in the San Francisco metro area, they dropped 2.8% from June to July,’ said Zillow economist Jeff Tucker. ‘They’re still up $1.4 million and more like $1.5 million in San Jose. So, this is still the most expensive part of the country, essentially, but that trend reversal is pretty striking.’ Tucker says this is the first time in a decade Bay Area home prices have fallen month-to-month.”
KSWB in California. “Mirroring a cooldown seen across the country, San Diego home values dipped slightly last month, according to market reports. The mortgage payment on a typical home in the San Diego metro area is $4,791 a month, including taxes and insurance, which is up about 82% from this time in 2019. Home inventory rose just under 10% from June to July, and the share of listings with a price cut last month was 23.6%, compared to 17% in June, Zillow said.”
The Vancouver Sun. “From all corners come the forecasts of lower housing prices in Canada. Everyone is nervous. The predictions portend gloom for many who bought homes in recent years, particularly over-leveraged investors. But drastically reduced prices also signal a possible opening for middle-income earners so far barricaded out of ownership. ‘Both buyers and sellers are now running for cover,’ says veteran Vancouver realtor David Hutchinson. ‘Buyers don’t know whether to purchase yet. And sellers don’t know if they should sell for less than they would have received earlier in the year. Or to wait until a more favourable market.'”
“‘On the ground things are pretty weak here in Metro Vancouver,’ says analyst Steve Saretsky. ‘Greater Vancouver homes are selling anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent lower than peak valuations in February.’ Vancouver’s suburbs have been hit the hardest.”
From CBC News. “Canada’s housing market continued to cool in July, with the average home price clocking in at $629,971 —a figure that drops by another $104,000 when excluding the Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver markets — as compared to June’s average price of $665,850. The average home price in Canada down more than 18% since February. Robert Hogue, an assistant chief economist at RBC, told CBC News that the report shows the market is ‘pretty much in full correction mode.’ ‘But what we’re seeing in July is that some of that weakness is also starting to spread across the country, which is what we expected, given that higher interest rates are affecting pretty much every buyer from coast to coast,’ he said.”
The Toronto Star in Canada. “The Bank of Mom and Dad is about to take a beating as rising interest rates and falling housing prices deliver a whole new market reality. And the sting is just beginning. There’s a whole other level of parental involvement emerging: co-signing for a mortgage. Although it is estimated only five to 10 per cent of new mortgages for first-time buyers are co-signed by parents, it’s a worrying segment that will almost certainly grow since the stress test that banks apply to your income before they grant a mortgage requires that your income can handle a two-per cent interest rate hike.”
“In 2017, the five-year fixed rate was 3.39 per cent, notes Ron Butler, a mortgage broker with almost three decades of experience. Renewals will be facing anywhere from 4.99 per cent to 5.29 per cent rate offers today. ‘That’s a big pop,’ Butler says, ‘amounting to $200 more a month on a $100,000 mortgage and $800 more a month on a $400,000 mortgage.’ Ouch.”
“People who qualified for mortgages on their own will now be more cash strapped, and may consider turning to their parents to add to the amount of qualifying income, as well as the amount of collateral equity that can back up the deal. Watch out, Mom and Dad. ‘The day of reckoning is coming,’ says Bob Adourian, a Toronto real estate lawyer, adding it will be as likely to trouble parent-child relationships as the markets.”
“That’s because a co-signed deal confers joint and several liability. You may think you are signing up for only one per cent of the asset value, but the lender can pursue any name on the mortgage for up to 100 per cent of what’s due until they fully recover the amount owing. What may seem like an innocent and low-cost favour could turn into a nightmare for everyone. Adourian says new cases are just trickling in but are destined to increase in coming months.”
“Butler agrees. He says it’s too soon to see big numbers yet. ‘It’s a glacial process. You have to be in arrears for 90 days before you start getting into the power of sale. If people are getting into trouble come September, they won’t see a lawyer’s letter until January. But right after the New Year, we’ll start seeing it.’ If the house isn’t sold to repay the mortgage, or if the value of the equity falls below the amount owing, the parents are liable for what is owed to the lender. Period. That might mean wiping out their retirement savings; or selling their own house; or declaring bankruptcy.”
“You don’t want to be in the room when all the parties come to grips with what just happened, says Scott Terrio, manager of consumer insolvency at Hoyes Michalos. A surprising number of new homeowners won’t sell their house even when that is the smartest thing to do financially, says Terrio. ‘FOGO (Fear Of Getting Out) has become as big a thing as FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) when it comes to real estate.'”
“‘The people calling us now wouldn’t have been in the housing market if not for their parents’down payments or co-signs.’ Terrio says. ‘If your monthly payments went up $400, and you throw in inflation, it’s not unrealistic to think people are between $500, $600 and $800 a month behind. Nobody has that kind of spare cash lying around. The point is all these people got into the housing market because of their parents, and now the parents are on the hook for 100 per cent,’ he says, adding no one wants to have that conversation with their parents when they find out they are liable for your million dollar mortgage.”
“‘It’s too late for those who are already in it, but for those who are on the sidelines, this is something you want the public to know,’ Terrio says.”
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‘87% stated they plan on slowing down housing starts, citing weak sales activity and too much inventory’
Harry Potter, what have you done?
‘You don’t want to be in the room when all the parties come to grips with what just happened’
Au contraire Scott, I would be willing to pay a peso to watch it live. Maybe a new streaming product to delight yer southern naeihbors or however you K-dns spell it.
I know of one person that got $300k from mommy that has just got evaporated. Stupid easy money goes stupid fast.
‘She owns a clothing store with locations in Montauk, Bridgehampton and Westhampton Beach. ‘I don’t think you’d ever understand what an East Coast beach winter is like,’ she said. ‘The sun goes down at 4 p.m. … It’s cold, it’s wet, and there’s no one here’
That’s cuz it sux Kristin.
‘We don’t seem to be selling stuff like $40,000 or $50,000 over list price, with offers like ‘You can name my first child’
You gotta feed the squirrels Justin and name yer boy Knife Catcher DuChemin.
‘Builders have a record number of homes currently under construction’
Carol, meet Larry Yun. Larry says shack builders aren’t building. Cuz he has his head up his a$$.
‘the loan product has gotten a ‘bad rap.’ ‘That was not what caused it,’ Smith said, referring to the bust. ‘What caused it was people were getting put into homes they couldn’t afford’
That’s why the REIC doesn’t mention price to income anymore Chuck.
“Bay Area home values are falling, not plummeting. However, a Zillow report finds they are dipping dramatically.”
LMFAO!!
Libtard lunacy, LA style.
Barking mad! Los Angeles is mocked for offering COVID tests to ANIMALS who have been in contact with the virus – even though the city has recorded zero cases in pets
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11131115/LA-mocked-offering-COVID-tests-ANIMALS-virus.html
The Comrades of Proven Worth (D) in our NEA indoctrination mills look out for their fellow groomers.
Notoriously woke Virginia school district kept pedophile school counselor on staff a year AFTER bosses were told he’d been arrested for soliciting child prostitute
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11131079/Woke-Virginia-school-district-kept-pedophile-counselor-year-notified-arrest.html
‘The last two years, we’ve been living in a fantasy land.’”
That tends to happen when your central bank goes full Zimbabwe with its expansion of the money supply.
‘The seller that needs to sell a home is having a tough time and they have to decide can we afford to drop our price, is its necessity to drop our price because of an employment situation or economic situation,’ said Rodriguez.”
The market doesn’t car about your employment situation or economic situation, Luis.
And when those ATMs stopped spitting out dollars, consumers found themselves overextended and the economy lost a source driving higher spending.”
I’m going to enjoy seeing these reckless irresponsible equity-pullers losing their shacks to foreclosure.
“From all corners come the forecasts of lower housing prices in Canada. Everyone is nervous. The predictions portend gloom for many who bought homes in recent years, particularly over-leveraged investors.
Die, speculator scum.
What may seem like an innocent and low-cost favour could turn into a nightmare for everyone.
Parents who enabled their offspring to buy into an insane housing bubble deserve everything that happens to them.
The point is all these people got into the housing market because of their parents, and now the parents are on the hook for 100 per cent,’ he says, adding no one wants to have that conversation with their parents when they find out they are liable for your million dollar mortgage.”
I’m guessing that a Venn diagram would show a near-100% correlation for these enabling parents and their stupid kids, and their votes for globalist stooge Lil’ Fidel. Seeing such cucks getting financially destroyed is going to be comedy gold.
And kinda the opposite problem, your kids need to be really responsible if you sign over the house while you are alive so if you get really sick you can get Medicaid, to help out. And you cant file BK because you are still part owner of your parent’s house.
If the Democrat-Bolsheviks ever succeed in disarming potential resisters, the Comrades of Proven Worth (D) will waste no time implementing the surveillance and control mechanisms developed by their CCP ideological mentors.
China’s Ankang psychiatric asylums accused of drugging, detaining and torturing political activists
https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/chinas-ankang-psychiatric-asylums-accused-of-drugging-detaining-and-torturing-political-activists/news-story/26d9f64167f9558df12fff1cad148419
From forced medication, to electroshock therapy and falsified diagnoses, China’s network of asylums target the powerless.
In the 13 years former Chinese political prisoner Wang Wanxing spent in a Chinese Ankang hospital, he was witness to scenes most would not believe.
Those held at the facilities were subjected to “basically sadistic” doctors and nurses, horrific attacks between inmates, with Mr Wang drugging himself with schizophrenia medication to ensure a good night’s sleep.
While the direct English translation of the word Ankang means “to be in a state of good health,” the word also refers to the estimated 109 police-run psychiatric asylums which house mentally-disturbed criminals, as well as protesters, dissenters and critics of the Chinese government. The latter, like Mr Wang, are detained by means of falsified diagnoses, with no medical justification.
From The Street. “‘The spike in searches about a housing crash suggests homeowners, particularly those thinking of selling, are increasingly nervous about their market timing,’ the RubyHome report stated. ‘If interest rates keep going up, purchasing power will continue to erode, putting more downward pressure on home prices until they reach parity with what people can afford.’ ‘Said another way, sellers will eventually have to capitulate,’ the report added.”
“‘The U.S. housing market is primarily stable,’ said Carol Horton, chief marketing officer at Texas-based homebuilder Kindred Homes. However, builders are slowing down on permits/starts to help offset the slowdown in demand. ‘Builders have a record number of homes currently under construction,’ Horton said.”
– But, “Shortage!”
– (But, “Data!”). This represents an entirely normal and stable housing market. Add to this the record new construction and speculators flooding the market with new inventory daily, and it’s looking like a lot of supply with tepid demand. Dare I say “glut?”
– A continuation of the recent boom and bust cycles courtesy of the Fed. From bubble to bubble.
https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2022/03/02/16-million-homes-vacant-in-us
16 Million Homes Vacant in U.S.
March 2, 2022
“While housing shortages are a more commonly cited problem than housing vacancies in the real estate market, some areas of the country are seeing a higher number of empty homes than others. Empty homes can be a concern as they can sometimes lead to economic blight. But a high number of empty homes doesn’t necessarily mean trouble, economists say.”
“More than 16 million homes are sitting vacant across the U.S., according to new research from LendingTree, which ranked the nation’s 50 states by their shares of unoccupied homes.”
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EVACANTUSQ176N
Housing Inventory Estimate: Vacant Housing Units in the United States (EVACANTUSQ176N)
Observation: Q2 2022: 15,286
Updated: Aug 2, 2022
Units: Thousands of Units, Not Seasonally Adjusted [NSA]
Frequency:Quarterly
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSACSR
Monthly Supply of New Houses in the United States (MSACSR)
Observation: Jun 2022: 9.3
Updated: Jul 26, 2022
Units: Months’ Supply, Seasonally Adjusted [SA]
Frequency: Monthly
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=QPZ7
New Privately-Owned Housing Units Under Construction: Total Units (UNDCONTSA)
Observation: Jul 2022: 1,678
Updated: Aug 16, 2022
Units: Thousands of Units, Seasonally Adjusted [SA]
Frequency: Monthly
– The everything bubble (aka central bank bubble) = housing bubble 2.0 + stonk market bubble (bear market) + bond market bubble (HY + IG) + Auto loan bubble; all bursting. The mother of all bubbles (MOAB). How is this exactly going to be a “soft landing,” esp. with highest inflation in 40 years, record fiscal spending (i.e. $Ts of deficit spending, including the “Inflation Reduction Act,” which doesn’t reduce inflation), lower-tier consumers living on credit cards, etc., etc.?
– The Fed wants to reduce the inflation (that they caused) by demand destruction, and probably a nasty recession. Up until now the stonk market didn’t get the memo. More tightening dead ahead. QT dead ahead (Sept.). Allegedly. Major tightening into a slowdown. Soft landing? Really?
Great stat and link – but by the description it would also refer to vacation homes/condos/cabins etc. what is the solution?
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EVACANTUSQ176N
Housing Inventory Estimate: Vacant Housing Units in the United States (EVACANTUSQ176N)
Observation: Q2 2022: 15,286
Updated: Aug 2, 2022
Units: Thousands of Units, Not Seasonally Adjusted [NSA]
Frequency:Quarterly
A housing unit is vacant if no one is living in it at the time of the interview, unless its occupants are only temporarily absent. In addition, a vacant unit may be one which is entirely occupied by persons who have a usual residence elsewhere. New units not yet occupied are classified as vacant housing units if construction has reached a point where all exterior windows and doors are installed and final usable floors are in place. Vacant units are excluded if they are exposed to the elements, that is, if the roof, walls, windows, or doors no longer protect the interior from the elements, or if there is positive evidence (such as a sign on the house or block) that the unit is to be demolished or is condemned. Also excluded are quarters being used entirely for nonresidential purposes, such as a store or an office, or quarters used for the storage of business supplies or inventory, machinery, or agricultural products. Vacant sleeping rooms in lodging houses, transient accommodations, barracks, and other quarters not defined as housing units are not included in the statistics.
Democrat-Bolsheviks with their hatred of the Constitution and defective moral compasses should be barred by law from any law enforcement or judicial positions.
FBI affidavit misled a magistrate judge on a search warrant in plot to seize and forfeit contents of safety deposit boxes
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/08/fbi_affidavit_misled_a_magistrate_judge_on_a_search_warrant_in_plot_to_seize_and_forfeit_contents_of_safety_deposit_boxes.html
In a case with a direct bearing on the search warrant issued on Mar A Lago, the March 22, 2021 FBI raid on a private safe deposit box operator in Beverly Hills, California just got even dodgier, according to court documents released by different federal judge than issued the warrant. You may recall that the FBI raided US Private Vaults in Beverly Hills and seized the contents of boxes of people accused of no crimes.
Eric Boehm of Reason reports on the latest revelations that show a pattern of FBI abuse of magistrate judges for the purpose of obtaining search warrants that amount to fishing expeditions – a violation of the Fourth Amendment
A reader sent these in:
Steve Saretsky
This is the steepest house price decline Canadians have seen in nearly two decades.
https://twitter.com/SteveSaretsky/status/1561063156226478081
US homes with price drops 👇 Who would have thought
https://twitter.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1560916373538234373
The Kobeissi Letter
@KobeissiLetter
Recent developments:
1. Credit card debt had its biggest jump since 2001
2. July home sales fell 5.9%
3. 78% of Americans expect a housing market crash
4. Fed expects unemployment to rise
5. Retail earnings declined again
Even if inflation has peaked, we face many hurdles.’
https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1561093886105337858
Join Bubtwit or end up like pic #2
https://twitter.com/NipseyHoussle/status/1560706118745194497
Danielle DiMartino Booth
In local news in my place of birth… “It’s not only subprime borrowers, but also those w/good credit ratings starting to default…It’s a function of everything (being) so expensive. Even gasoline, the prices have come down, but it’s still expensive.”
https://twitter.com/DiMartinoBooth/status/1560980469180780544
Liz Ann Sonders
Current maximum drawdown for existing home sales (-27.7%) is rivaling maximum drop during pandemic shutdown (-28.2%)
https://twitter.com/LizAnnSonders/status/1560584157855719425
The Meaning of Incredible
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2022/08/19/the-meaning-of-incredible/
The CDC seems to think nobody will notice its crimes, and the crimes of its sister agencies, FDA, NIAID, NIH, (and the White House Task Force) if it strolls jauntily into the fall season whistling a happy a tune: Nevermind Covid anymore, la la la…. Did I say crimes? Yes, I did. As in gross violations of the law and the basic social contract.
They lied about their roles in the nefarious origins of SARS CoV-2. They conjured up — already had waiting, actually — dangerous genetic treatments masquerading as “vaccines” and then they faked the safety trials to rush them into use. They denied people proper, effective treatments with inexpensive drugs and killed them with ventilators and remdesivir — solely to maintain a fraudulent emergency use authorization (EUA) that shielded “vaccine” companies from lawsuits.
Once the “vaccines’ were widely distributed — and forced upon many people with mandates — they confabulated and hid information about adverse reactions and deaths. They destroyed countless small businesses, livelihoods, households, and hindered children’s development with lockdowns. And they used both social and news media to censor their critics in direct violation of the first amendment. That’s all.
All of these stones bore inscriptions stating “Realtors are liars.”
Huge megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones discovered in Spain
https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/world/megalithic-complex-spain-europe-b2148727.html
Standing stones discovered on a piece of land — spanning about 600 hectares — in Huelva in Spain
“Woke” companies go broke. Woke militaries lose wars, especially when they kick out 60,000 “vaccine hesitant” officers, NCOS, and troops and push “diversity” policies that are causing white males to get out in droves and all four services to miss recruitment and retention targets.
China Is Preparing To Go To War
China expert Gordon Chang makes the case that China is preparing for armed conflict – and could happen quite soon.
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/08/china-is-preparing-to-go-to-war/
Last month, a Chinese entrepreneur making medical equipment for consumers told me that local officials had demanded he convert his production lines in China so that they could turn out items for the military. Communist Party cadres, he said, were issuing similar orders to other manufacturers.
Moreover, Chinese academics privately say the ongoing expulsion of foreign colleagues from China’s universities appears to be a preparation for hostilities.
The People’s Republic of China is preparing to go to war, and it is not trying to hide its efforts. Amendments to the National Defense Law, effective the first day of last year, transfer powers from civilian to military officials.
San Jose Prices Lead Nation in Value Drop!
Aug 20, 2022 Housing prices in San Jose fell by an average of $75,300 from April to June, the biggest drop in prices over that time period among the top 50 U.S. markets, according to a new report.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7bfHZhkrTo
2:16.
“Value Drop”
AKA Price Drop. When living in the world of Price equals Value a drop in price will translate to a drop in value.
So, who is it that sets these prices, who creates these values? Is it not the most optimistic and the most ignorant puke who enters a bidding war? Yes? No? If it is not these ignorant pukes then just who is it?
Buffet: Combine ignorance with borrowed money and you will get interesting results (or words to that effect). The “interesting results” obtained by combining ignorance with borrowed money in the world of real estate is substantial increases in wealth for numerous STRANGERS who just happen to live nearby.
Bahahahahahahaha … our planet is populated by a bunch of dummies who make life interesting and profitable for bankers.
I like it, I love it, I want more of it.
Na na na na
Na na na na
Hey hey
Goodbye!
‘May he rest in peace!’: Trump sticks the knife in and mocks woke host Brian Stelter after he was unceremoniously fired from CNN
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11129953/Donald-Trump-mocks-partisan-CNN-host-Brian-Stelter-ousting-network.html
Donald Trump took a break from decrying the FBI to mock ousted CNN host Brian Stelter on Friday.
Amidst Truth Social posts about the FBI’s raid on his Mar-a-Lago home – which he characterized as a ‘break-in’ and one of the bureau’s many ‘atrocities’ – the former president carved out some time to take a shot at Stelter, whose firing from CNN was announced on Thursday.
‘Brian Stelter of Fake News CNN got fired because he lied, and lied, and lied – ABOUT ME. May he REST IN PEACE!’ Trump wrote on his social media platform.
“ousted CNN host Brian Stelter”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2022/08/18/majority-of-americans-view-fbi-as-bidens-personal-gestapo-n2611980
I’ll try again.
“ousted CNN host Brian Stelter”
https://youtu.be/mU1p-uS_58k?t=26
Props to Russell Brand for waking huge numbers of former sheeple to the swindles being perpetrated against them by the Powers that Be.
So, It WAS All A Scam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub8BgowUE2M
Private health care companies are scamming us. Today I’m joined by Dr Bob Gill who tells me all about the privatization of healthcare, how the pandemic response was about profit, big pharma’s funding of the FDA and its biased medical research. You will LOVE this!
So, It WAS All A Scam
No, it’s genocide and democide.
There’s a reason why the Georgia Guidestones were demolished.
“…democide.”
Learning something new here.
” So it was all a scam. ”
Big Pharmacy took over medical system . Corruption of regulatory agencies, corruption of medical science, corruption of trials for meds and vaccines. Corruption of Doctors by bribery or extortion. Corruption by Big Pharmacy advertising dollars buying fake news. .. . . Corruption of D.C. politicians by Big Pharmacy being biggest lobby.
The take over of medical system by Big Pharmacy , with corruption of health agencies ended up shutting down the globe , and fake toxic vaccines administered, which are still on the market.
“SO IT WAS ALL A SCAM. ”
Big Pharmacy are members of the World Economic Forum
The common thread is the collusion with Mega Corporations members of the WEF.
While “woke” Democrat-Bolshevik DAs ensure perps who commit violent felonies against whites and Asians are back out on the street within hours, the full weight of a malicious partisan system is brought to bear against J6 defendants who committed such heinous crimes as absconding with Comrade Pelosi’s laptop.
Woman accused of stealing Pelosi’s laptop gets OK to attend Renaissance Fair
https://nypost.com/2022/08/21/pennsylvania-woman-riley-williams-accused-of-stealing-pelosis-laptop-in-jan-6-riot-gets-ok-to-leave-house-arrest/
The Pennsylvania woman charged with stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Capitol Hill riot has been granted permission to leave her house arrest to attend a Renaissance Fair.
Riley Williams, 25, has been detained at her home for the last year and a half since her arrest in the Capitol riot case.
This weekend, she’ll have the chance to dress in medieval cosplay in the eight hours she’s been given to attend the fair in Lancaster County.
Sorry, wanna-be real estate moguls, but these “rent control” initiatives are likely to gain traction nationwide as greedy landlords gouge tenants who are already under severe financial stress in our oligarch-looted economy. What’s needed isn’t rent control – what’s needed is to vote out our worthless, captured Republicrat duopoly en masse and replace them with representatives who will kick the Fed and its private equity accomplices to the curb.
Florida landlords trying to stop rent control initiative
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/florida-landlords-trying-stop-rent-control-initiative
The Florida landlords and others argue state law prohibits rent control ordinances
A group of landlords, apartment managers and real estate agents want to stop voters from deciding on a measure that would implement rent control for a year in one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the U.S.
Orange County voters will go to the polls in the fall to decide on an initiative aimed at limiting how much landlords can increase rents. If passed, it would be the first such measure in decades in the Sunshine State.
The Florida Apartment Association and the Florida Association of Realtors last week sued in an attempt to invalidate the initiative.
If this passes nobody who voted for it will put 2 and 2 together years down the road when they wonder why residential properties generally fell into disrepair as investors stopped improving/buying property.
This is the circumstance that originated the term ‘slum lord’.
In landlord friendly Utah landlords raise rents 20%+ and do zero repairs. No legislation for rent controls. Slumlords all over. Screw them.
My sister and her husband want to rent their house our for $2,500/ mo. It’s nothing special. Two years ago the rent on it would have been around $1,300-$1,600/ mo.
Gotta admit, I chuckle every time some vapid ho-bag “influencer” who flaunts their wealth on social media gets robbed.
Kim Kardashian thief says he feels NO guilt for gunpoint Paris robbery and reveals $10MIL jewel heist was inspired by her parading her valuables online: ‘Since she was throwing money away, I was there to collect it’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11131125/Kim-Kardashian-thief-says-feels-NO-guilt-gunpoint-Paris-robbery.html
One of the perpetrators of Kim Kardashian’s 2016 Paris robbery has spoken out, declaring he feels no guilt over the crime.
Yunis Abbas is one of 12 elderly men arrested for the burglary, in which Kardashian was bound at gunpoint while the band of thieves now known as the ‘grandpa robbers’ plundered $10 million worth of jewelry from her luxurious hotel suite.
In a new interview with VICE News, Abbas confirmed that he developed the idea for the robbery after seeing Kardashian repeatedly flaunt her jewelry on social media.
“We don’t seem to be selling stuff like $40,000 or $50,000 over list price”
Oh what a lie! What percentage of homes actually got offer higher than asking? I bet it’s very minuscule. And these liars pretend that this was a common occurrence.
I ran across this …
“According to a new report from Redfin, some 5,897 homes nationwide sold for at least $100,000 over asking price at the beginning of 2022, up from 2,241 compared to the same period in 2021.Mar 8, 2022”
California Homes Selling Six Figures Above Asking Pricehttps://themreport.com › daily-dose › selling-above-asking
Bidding wars were bad last year in my little burg. I knew of a couple who kept losing them, even though they were bidding tens of thousands over the asking price. Fast forward to today and it’s a different story: houses are no longer selling within hours of being listed.
New England Patriots Super Bowl XX January 26, 1986
George Armstrong Custer near Little Bighorn River June 1876.
Liz Cheney’s Wyoming Republican primary August 2022.
Garage on Chicago’s North Side Valentine’s Day February 14, 1929.
Liz Cheney: ‘Ashamed’ Republicans Defended Trump After Mar-a-Lago Raid
PAM KEY21 Aug 2022
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/08/21/liz-cheney-ashamed-republicans-defended-trump-after-mar-a-lago-raid/
Friday , August 19, 2022
By Robert Parry
Prominent neocon Robert Kagan has endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, saying she represents the best hope for saving the United States from populist billionaire Donald Trump, who has repudiated the neoconservative cause of U.S. military interventions in line with Israel’s interests.
In a Washington Post op-ed published on Thursday, Kagan excoriated the Republican Party for creating the conditions for Trump’s rise and then asked, “So what to do now? The Republicans’ creation will soon be let loose on the land, leaving to others the job the party failed to carry out.”
Then referring to himself, he added, “For this former Republican, and perhaps for others, the only choice will be to vote for Hillary Clinton. The [Republican] party cannot be saved, but the country still can be.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/02/25/neocon-kagan-endorses-hillary-clinton/
Liz Cheney, Robert Kagan
The list of Donald Trump’s accomplishments just keeps growing.
“Kagan left the Republican Party due to the party’s nomination of Donald Trump and endorsed the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, for president.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kagan
Spouse: Victoria Nuland. She’s central to the Ukraine mess.
Just two years?🤣
Orlando, FL Housing Prices Crater 18% YOY As The Toxic Rot Of Subprime Mortgage Defaults Looms Over Florida Housing Market
https://www.movoto.com/fl/32837/market-trends/
As one national broker conceded, “We’ve been scraping the bottom of the buyer barrel for 15 years or more. Why do you think mortgage defaults are 600% higher than long term trend?”
Is it safe to assume that the stock market has bottomed out?
Wall Street is warning investors not to try to time the bottom in stocks — with the bear market potentially dragging on into 2023
George Glover
2 hours ago
Wall Street strategists are warning investors not to try to time the bear market – despite stocks rallying over the past month. Nuthawut Somsuk/Getty Images
– US stocks have rallied in recent months, giving investors hope that the market has bottomed.
– But Wall Street strategists have warned not to try timing the market, with further volatility ahead.
– The bear market could drag on until the Federal Reserve stops hiking interest rates, one warned.
…
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-bearish-wall-street-bottom-goldman-bofa-ubs-2022-8
No, October’s ahead.
I read that around two thirds of current mortgage companies are ‘non bank entities’. Their businesses have imploded and they have very limited options for more funding. We will see them dropping like flies very soon.
Something worth discussing is the fact that GSE 2022 Conforming Loan Limit is $647,200 and goes up to $970,800 for high-cost counties for one-unit properties. This will probably be the only option in the market soon. If we look at a city like San Francisco where overall downtown city traffic is still at a third of its prepandemic level according to The Daily Mail yesterday, almost every property in that city could go no bid. The owners wont accept anything under a mil and no one will qualify for anything over 970k. Meanwhile there is a steady stream of people leaving. Craigslist has been trying to sell an office building it owns there that is only 22% occupied. It has now dropped the price to just slightly above what it paid back in 2012! San Francisco has essentially opted to suicide itself. I believe Chicago is also a suicide city and will not recover from this period. It will become another Detroit. Will S.F. too? What about Oakland? How about many of the other craphole bay area cities that are already looking like 3rd world dumps? This crash is still just getting started. Eventually the stock market will catch wind of it and will crash too but it may take another year for the full effects to finally become obvious to everyone. A number of our once prosperous cities have very bleak futures ahead.
‘around two thirds of current mortgage companies are ‘non bank entities’
They first took 50% of the market by 2015.
“it’s not unrealistic to think people are between $500, $600 and $800 a month behind. Nobody has that kind of spare cash lying around.”
They don’t? Then how TF is the average price up there $1.5 million? Sound lending!
I have more than that in my desk drawer.
If you want to see the Democrat-Bolshevik vision for America, you only need to look at Seattle.
Seattle firefighters ‘are being assaulted’ and demand city take action after reports of at least 40 attacks on first responders putting out fires at city’s growing number of homeless encampments
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11131997/Seattle-firefighters-assaulted-demand-city-action-40-incidents.html
I’m sure the mayor and city council don’t give a flying fig.
‘Former President Donald Trump responded to recent comments issued by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) about the GOP possibly not retaking the Senate during the 2022 midterms.’
‘In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Kentucky senator is a “broken down political hack” and challenged his loyalty to the Republican Party. “Why do Republicans Senators allow a broken down hack politician, Mitch McConnell, to openly disparage hard working Republican candidates for the United States Senate,” Trump asked on the platform.’
‘He added: “This is such an affront to honor and to leadership. He should spend more time (and money!) helping them get elected, and less time helping his crazy wife and family get rich on China!” Trump was making reference to McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, owning a shipping company that does extensive business in China, according to reports.’
‘Trump’s critical comment came days after McConnell told reporters that the GOP likely won’t retake the Senate because, according to him, there are problems with certain Republican candidates running for office in this election cycle. He didn’t elaborate.’
https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-responds-to-mcconnell-after-leader-warns-gop-voters-about-midterms_4678577.html
Why do the inbred Jeds of the Kentucky GOP keep re-electing the globalist stooge and RINO sell-out McConnell to the Senate?
Maybe because Trump told them to? Remember that? Good times!
McConnell lost his conservative ghillie suit.
In the case of the last election, cuz President Trump endorsed him. Same with Graham. Notice the media doesn’t talk about how Trump and Pence are polar opposites now.
Despite the Brandon regime’s lies, denial, and statistical fakery, only the most willfully blind of the sheeple refuses to see that we’re in a recession, if not an outright depression.
97% of US executives believe US is now in a recession or close to one, despite Biden’s consistent denials
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11131889/97-executives-believe-recession-close-one-despite-Bidens-denials.html
A high number of U.S. executives believe the country is now in a recession, despite the Biden Administration’s refusal to admit the economy’s consecutive contractions over the last year.
A survey conducted by Stifel Financial shows that 18 percent of executives, business owners, and investors consider the economy already in a recession, compared to 79 percent of them expecting a downturn within the next 18 months.
Corporate America is already on a preemptive layoff spree. They know what is coming,
I wonder how this is working out.
Lennar’s The Farm in Poway
Get a cash offer and sell your current home
Skip the hassle of listing, months of showing and juggling double mortgages. We’ve partnered with Opendoor to make it easy to sell your home.
Business Insider: The FTC just slapped Opendoor with a $62 million fine for ‘misleading’ customers about the true costs of its homebuying business
I have a hard time discerning whether real estate boosters are merely clueless, or paid to mislead the clueless.
There’s no mention in the article I am about to post about the underwater loans held by those who bought with low down payment loans at last year’s prices, now that rates reverted towards normalcy. There is no discussion of people who might lose their jobs, and houses, if a predicted recession occurs, or the further pullback in purchase demand that normally follows a recession. No mention is made of the massive incursion of nonbank lending in recent years, which looks like subprime mortgage lending by another name. And emerging data on collapsing sales and price declines in many markets is completely ignored.
Otherwise it’s a fine article.
Yahoo
MoneyWise
Should I wait for real estate prices to crash before I buy a house? Here are 3 simple reasons why this housing downturn is nothing like 2008
Sigrid Forberg
Sun, August 21, 2022 at 4:00 AM·4 min
Should I wait for real estate prices to crash before I buy a house? Here are 3 simple reasons why this housing downturn is nothing like 2008
Two years in, this decade has already brought a global pandemic, record-setting inflation, rising interest rates and a country more divided than ever before.
So why not a housing crash too?
Americans who lived through the 2008 crisis may be watching the red-hot market starting to cool and getting flashbacks. And for prospective homeowners, it might be appealing to put your plans on pause until the market bottoms out so you can snag a house at a great price.
But experts say there are good reasons to believe that however this shakes out, it won’t be a return to 2008 — which will no doubt be a relief to anyone whose apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur have been long put away in storage.
…
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wait-real-estate-prices-crash-110000367.html
“But experts say there are good reasons to believe that however this shakes out, it won’t be a return to 2008”
Oh good, the experts say we’re safe.
Actually, they’re right. It’ll make 2008 look like the good days.
Sound lending… knife catchers’ special loans…
How to buy a house with $0 down in 2022: First time buyer
Dan Green
The Mortgage Reports Contributor
July 1, 2022 – 19 min read
How to buy a house with no money
A no down payment mortgage allows first-time home buyers and repeat home buyers to purchase property with no money required at closing, except standard closing costs.
Other options, including loans from the FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, allow you to buy with just 3% or 3.5% down. And there are grants and loans that could cover your down payment requirement.
Thanks to these programs, home buyers no longer have to save for years to buy a home. Many are ready to buy and simply don’t know it yet.
…
https://themortgagereports.com/11306/buy-a-home-with-a-low-downpayment-or-no-downpayment-at-all
Markets
CNBC TV
Watchlist
Finance
A ‘shakeout’ among mortgage lenders is coming, according to CEO of bank that left the business
Published Fri, Aug 5 2022 6:17 AM EDT
Updated Fri, Aug 5 2022 8:05 PM EDT
Hugh Son
Key Points
– Some firms will be forced to exit the mortgage industry as refinance activity dries up, according to Tim Wennes, CEO of the U.S. division of Santander.
– Santander left the mortgage business in February as part of a strategic pivot to focus on higher-return services like its auto lending franchise. The decision now seems prescient.
– JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have cut mortgage staffing levels to adjust to the lower volumes.
– Smaller nonbank providers are reportedly scrambling to sell loan servicing rights or even merge or partner with rivals.
Banks and other mortgage providers have been battered by plunging demand for loans this year, a consequence of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.
Some firms will be forced to exit the industry entirely as refinance activity dries up, according to Tim Wennes, CEO of the U.S. division of Santander.
He would know: Santander — a relatively small player in the mortgage market — announced its decision to drop the product in February.
“We were a first mover here and others are now doing the same math and seeing what’s happening with mortgage volumes,” Wennes said in a recent interview. “For many, especially the smaller institutions, the vast majority of mortgage volume is refinance activity, which is drying up and will likely drive a shakeout.”
The mortgage business boomed during the first two years of the pandemic, driven by rock-bottom financing costs and a preference for suburban houses with home offices. The industry posted a record $4.4 trillion in loan volumes last year, including $2.7 trillion in refinance activity, according to mortgage data and analytics provider Black Knight.
But surging interest rates and home prices that have yet to decline have put housing out of reach for many Americans and shut the refinance pipeline for lenders. Rate-based refinances sank 90% through April from last year, according to Black Knight.
…
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/05/-santanders-tim-wennes-a-shakeout-among-mortgage-lenders-is-coming.html
Yahoo Money
Housing market ‘extremely volatile’ with private equity accounting for a third of the sales: Expert
Ronda Lee
Fri, August 19, 2022 at 8:29 AM·2 min read
Inflation and recession fears turned a once red hot housing market into a cool down.
Fluctuating mortgage rates dropped below 5% and then up again, with the rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage at 5.22% from 4.99% the week prior.
“Housing used to be a very stable asset class and now it’s extremely volatile,” Glenn Kelman, CEO at Redfin, told Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “One reason is that institutions used to account for about a quarter of the sales, but now it’s about a third. You have real estate investment trusts (REITs) all active in the single family home market.”
Redfin analysis showed real estate investors bought 18.4% of homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2021, up from 12.6% a year earlier.
This year has been what some experts have called the worst housing affordability crisis, with many entry level and first-time buyers pushed out of the market.
For homebuyers wondering why it’s harder to win a bid, it may have something to do with the fact that they’re not bidding against another family, but instead an institutional investor.
…
https://money.yahoo.com/housing-market-extremely-volatile-with-private-equity-accounting-for-a-third-of-the-sales-expert-152958055.html
“…they’re not bidding against another family, but instead an institutional investor.”
I wonder if the market shift underway might soon pit families trying to sell against institutional investors willing to lower their list prices as much as necessary in order to capture today’s market value, rather than HODLing until prices drop further.
Do Baltimore residents feel good about this article? How about citizens of NYC? Does it feel like ‘not a repeat of 2008’ in Chicongo? I could go on but you get the idea. 2008 was just a dress rehearsal. We are now watching the main feature and are awaiting the climax. There will be entire cities of bag holders when it is over.
Anyone in the mood to pick up a nice foreclosure in Portland, Oregon? How about lovely Oakland, CA? Seattle perhaps? Downtown Chicago? Even half price doesn’t sound appealing. I’d rather stuff my cash in a mattress than set it on fire in any of those places. No one with clear judgement is even going to bother looking at some of these places. Why would you invest in a city run by Beetlejuice? You’d have to be some sort of nutjob and most of the nutjobs are going to be broke.
For Those Who Still Don’t Understand How / Why #Woke (TM) Became a Pejorative Term
https://www.bitchute.com/video/jyZlRekOM0hG/
2 minutes.
A nice example of his point is the practice of declaring your promouns.
My name, hairstyle, and physique identify me as a male. But if I fail to declare my pronouns at the end of an email, I am sinning against the wokeness and Democratic religions.
Neocons want endless wars, while globalist “woke” policies are destroying our military services from within. Driving out your most capable and committed warriors makes no sense in an increasingly dangerous world.
EXCLUSIVE: Navy SEAL in Bin Laden raid Rob O’Neill says the rest of the world is ‘mocking’ the US while it ‘fights over pronouns’, military morale has been crushed and veterans are asking what they were fighting for a year on from the Afghanistan pullout
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11120085/Navy-SEAL-Rob-ONeillon-rest-world-mocking-US.html
Rob O’Neill, a former Navy SEAL who was part of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, has issued a warning for the US and the Afghan people, 11 years after the operation to take out the 9/11 mastermind and 12 months on from the withdrawal of troops from Kabul.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, the two-time Silver Star winner says the Taliban has only been emboldened by taking over the government, filling the vacuum left by Western forces, and has taken rights – especially for women – back to where they were on September 10, 2001.
The veteran who completed more than 400 operations around the world during his career and knows more than most about terrorists and the grim realities of war said Al Qaeda and the Islamist insurgents The Haqqani Network are now ‘everywhere’ and enjoying a safe haven.
Neocons want endless wars, while globalist “woke” policies are destroying our military services from within. Driving out your most capable and committed warriors makes no sense in an increasingly dangerous world.
I think the plan is to have proxies actually fight the wars, a la Ukraine. Problem is, we can’t even seem to adequately supply them in the long haul.
“Driving out your most capable and committed warriors makes no sense in an increasingly dangerous world.”
Stansfield Turner drove us out of the service back in my time. Lots of career military operators with way more time than me got shown the door before their retirement ETS.
Did the pandemic kill the movie theater business?
My wife and I did what we could to keep the movie theater business going during the pandemic. There were many times when we were two among ten or fewer attendees in a theater with a capacity of hundreds of seats. Most people were too terrified of the virus to venture out in public.
As a result, it died in the arse.
Could it possibly be all the woke garbage being offered?
The only flick I have seen in a cinema recently was ‘Death on the Nile’ with Kenneth Branagh and Gal Gadot. It had great cinematography, with beautiful vistas. But I still prefer David Suchet’s low budget made for TV version. Sorry, but Branagh isn’t Poirot for me.
And readily available streaming content.
“Could it possibly be all the woke garbage being offered?”
My wife and I recently attended two productions at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. They were both updated versions of plays that have been around the block (‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Dial M for Murder.’) Both repaced heterosexual relationships in the originals with lesbian partnerships.
A family we know got up and walked out of the theater when the lesbian liaison in ‘Dial M for Murder’ came to light. Time will tell how many audience members say no to woke theater.
Cineworld reportedly heading for bankruptcy
Posted by Genevieve Lewis on 19th August 2022
Cinema chain Cineworld is set to file for bankruptcy according to reports, blaming a failed quick recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The London-listed business has hired lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis and consultants from restructuring firm AlixPartners.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is expected to file a chapter 11 petition in the US and is considering insolvency proceedings in the UK.
The company operates 751 sites in 10 different countries including the Cineworld and Picturehouse cinema chains in the UK.
Cineworld’s market value more than halved this week after the company initiated talks with stakeholders. Before the pandemic, the cinema chain was valued as high as £4.4bn ($5bn/€5bn).
The business has debts totalling more than $4.8bn, partly caused by the pandemic and the failure to bounce back in terms of ticket sales once cinemas reopened. The chain also said that the lack of blockbuster films heading to the cinemas exacerbated things.
…
https://www.theticketingbusiness.com/2022/08/19/cineworld-reportedly-heading-for-bankruptcy/
Diversity killed movie theaters.
At the last few movies I saw in the theater, I had to sit through commercials were white couples, unless Boomers targeted for retirement ads, were verboten. So I quit going to the theater. Get woke, go broke – f**k you and good riddance.
I have no problem with giving roles to the best person even if they are diverse. No actor should be denied a role because of the color of their skin. That being said, the forced diversity for the sake of pushing a woke agenda is what killed cinema for me. I don’t really even watch movies any more. Apparently few others do either.
Conversely, no actor should be given a role because of ze skin color.
It was the final nail in the coffin. Reclining chairs, expensive food and alcohol had a limited novelty window.
This is true!
https://www.angelikafilmcenter.com/sandiego
30 years ago today, the standoff at Ruby Ridge began.
https://www.grunge.com/210766/the-ruby-ridge-standoff-was-worse-than-you-think/
The NZ housing market: a canary in the coal mine?
16 August 2022
The era of ultra-low interest rates and cheap finance has driven a global house price boom, and in New Zealand the house price-to-income ratio has topped that of many OECD nations. But now, as interest rates rise and prices dip, the nation’s housing market has become something of a canary in the coal mine for the rest of the world.
…
https://transact.ft.com/the-nz-housing-market-a-canary-in-the-coal-mine/?utm_source=FT&utm_medium=backfill&utm_content=ft_marketing
There seems to be no shortage of dead canaries in the global housing market.