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If We Have The Everything Bubble, You’re Going To Have The Everything Bust

A report from Mansion Global. “As the market shifts, home buyers are getting bolder. ‘My advice now is to ask for everything,’ said Ben Stern, managing broker of Buyers Edge Co.’s Dupont Circle office in Washington, D.C. ‘In less-competitive neighborhoods buyers are successfully offering 10% less than the list price, and having a full-blown home inspection with the right to void their offer and the right to negotiate.’ ‘Right now, sellers are accepting offers with a home inspection and negotiations because they know if they don’t, they may have to put their house back on the market,’ said Nina Hatvany, an agent with Compass real estate brokerage in San Francisco. ‘The next buyers are likely to find the same issue, so they may as well give the first buyers a credit and move on.'”

“‘In a big house in the Hamptons, my buyers wanted the sellers to replace all the windows,’ said Kimberly Jay, a broker with Compass real estate brokerage in Manhattan. ‘The sellers gave them a large credit for it because they were eager to sell.'”

From Deseret News. “Yet again, regional housing markets in the Mountain West are among those seeing the largest share of homes for sale with price tags that are getting slashed. Boise, Idaho was again the leading metro in Redfin’s rankings with the largest share of homes for sale that had a price drop in October. More than two-thirds — 68.7% — saw a price drop — a larger share than any other metro Redfin analyzed. Denver saw a 56.8% share of homes for sale with a price drop, followed in Redfin’s analysis by Indianapolis and Salt Lake City, both at 54.7%. Tacoma, Washington, ranked No. 5, with a 52.5% share.”

“Salt Lake City led the nation as the metro area to see the biggest drop in number of homes sold and among the top five for the biggest drop in pending home sales. The number of homes sold fell 47.6% year over year in Salt Lake City in October, according to Redfin. Stockton, California, ranked No 2. with -45.4%, and Cape Coral, Florida, came next with -45.3%. Las Vegas ranked No. 4, with -43.7%, and San Diego rounded out the top five with -41.5%.”

“Pending home sales fell the most in Allentown, Pennsylvania, declining 54.9% year over year. Next came Greensboro, North Carolina (-50.4%), Honolulu, Hawaii (-47.3%), Salt Lake City (-46%) and Jacksonville, Florida (-45.9%).”

From Benzinga. “According to a National Association of Realtors survey, sales of existing homes were down in October compared to a year earlier and down 5.9% from September. There were decreases in every region of the US both month over month and year over year. That was the longest stretch of dropping sales ever recorded, dating back to 1999, and it continues a trend that started slowing in February.”

The Telegraph. “Property sales in America have tanked, affordability is at its worst level since 1985 and house prices have been falling since June. Mick Duchon, of Corcoran real estate agents in Miami Beach, said: ‘I’m seeing buyers expect more negotiability and sellers are more flexible because they know what’s happening in the market.'”

The Gilbert Sun in Arizona. “Big news this week as the Valley shifts into a buyers market. Buyers have reaped the benefits of this rapidly shifting market with nearly 45% of all recent sales involving concessions for mortgage rate buy downs, closing costs, and other seller-paid contributions. But sellers are grappling with the reality that home prices have fallen almost 10% in that same time period and the impact of not being market-ready has risen to two to three times the opportunity cost that it carried in the 2021 market. New construction has returned to the Valley as a viable solution for buyers after two years of inaccessible inventory and inflexible pricing. That is peaking the interest of many who are finding resale inventory to be outdated and priced similarly.”

Tribune News Service. “In Southern California, a mansion is a micro-economy. And whenever these prized properties surface for sale, many dozen more workers enter the fray — tasked with elevating the home to its most beautiful state, keeping it in pristine condition in hopes of luring a buyer willing to spend a fortune to acquire it. They include maids, gardeners, handymen, pool techs, interior designers, limestone specialists and aquarium cleaners. Owners could spend millions just trying to keep the place in salable shape.”

“In April, former Disney chief Michael Eisner offered up his Malibu compound for $225 million but hasn’t yet found a buyer. The Manor, a famous 123-room Holmby Hills mansion, featured rooms dedicated to gift wrapping and flower cutting, hit the market in February for $165 million. No takers. In Beverly Crest, a $100-million mansion has been listed since January 2021. Crickets.”

The Tribune. “The Government and commercial banking industry must have ‘a meeting of the minds’ so the latter can ‘clean up’ its backlog of distressed properties and resume aggressive mortgage lending again, a senior banker urged. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told an ‘economic resilience’ webinar that the Government was taking ‘a contradictory position’ by focusing on new housing developments rather than directing persons to distressed homes that could be acquired at much-reduced prices.”

“He said the backlog of delinquent mortgage properties, where borrowers have defaulted on their repayments, was tying up bank capital and deterring new lending in the domestic Bahamian housing market for properties worth $1m or less. ‘If things continue to be tight in the domestic environment, the availability of qualified borrowers and mortgages is going to remain restricted. There’s underlying factors to that,’ Mr Bowe told the webinar. ‘There’s a significant inventory of distressed properties that exists in our populace today.'”

CTV News in Canada. “There are nearly 50 per cent less homes being built in Saskatoon compared to last year, according to a new industry report. ‘We did have a very strong start to the year, the first five months of the year were very strong for sales, and cooled off shortly after, as soon as those interest rates started rising quite rapidly,’ CEO of Saskatoon Home Builders’ Association Nicole Burgess told CTV News. ‘Unfortunately, there’s not much cause for celebration. We’ve seen pretty much things come to a grinding halt.'”

“‘Deals collapsed as multiple buyers were not able to secure financing, even those preapproved by the banks,’ the report stated. ‘The demand for new construction homes has hit rock bottom.'”

From Insauga. “With interest rates spiking six times already in 2022 – and the Bank of Canada poised to make one more next month – it’s no wonder real estate prices have plunged this year. The provinces with the most expensive real estate markets experienced the greatest price dips this year, according to Zoocasa and the Toronto and Region Real Estate Board (TRREB). Ontario’s prices have dropped 18.26 per cent from $1,075,800 in February to $879,400 in October, while British Columbia’s prices have fallen 8.51 per cent from $1,048,900 to $959,600 over the same period.”

“Home prices have taken a hit due to the rising rates, with some cities feeling the impact harder than others, especially in the GTA, where housing prices in every city covered by TRREB have declined. London-St. Thomas and Kitchener-Waterloo, for example, have experienced price depreciation of 25 per cent and 24.5 per cent, respectively, while Hamilton Burlington has fallen 21.72 per cent from $1,068,800 in February to $836,800 in October.”

“But the biggest impact has been felt in Durham Region, where some of the biggest downward movers are found. In Brock Township prices fell a whopping 31.05 per cent – the biggest decline of the 14 communities surveyed – from $1,168.477 in February to $805,653 in October, a difference of $362,824: also number one. Percentage-wise, the next biggest drop was in Oshawa, where average housing prices fell 28.89 per cent from $1,099,738 to $782,227. Other Durham towns were also hit hard, with Clarington housing prices falling 27.76 per cent, Ajax down 23.92 per cent and Pickering prices falling 23.5 per cent.”

From The Local. “‘The sellers find it difficult to accept the new situation,’ professor of economics at Södertörn University Mats Bergman explained. Sweden’s central bank (Riksbank) has been raising the key interest rate since Spring, and in line with that, prices in the housing market have fallen. Several banks, including the Riksbank, predict that prices will plummet by 20 percent from their peak level. ‘One should remember that what happened during the pandemic was not healthy either. We are comparing ourselves to a unique period where the market was completely crazy, and we also had low interest rates and low inflation. You might even be able to talk about a normalisation instead of a disaster,’ Claudia Wörmann, housing economist at SBAB, noted.”

“Bergman does not believe that housing prices will rise in the same way as they have in recent decades once prices have stabilised. ‘Prices have risen to a level that is very high in relation to incomes. My prediction is that we cannot count on 20-30 years of rising prices,’ he concluded.”

ERR on Estonia. “A year ago, the average price of a large apartment in Lasnamäe was approximately €170,000 and the sale process was conducted quickly. But the situation is very different today. Properties can stay on the market for months, even those priced at €150,000, Thursday’s ‘Aktuaalne kaamera’ reported. Real estate company Arco Vara’s board member Elari Tamme said owners need to be prepared to accept offers under the asking price if they want to sell. The reduction could be as much as 20 percent. ‘The market works is that if the buyer is not prepared to agree [to the price], then there will be no sale. This means that prices have to fall,’ said Tamm.”

News Corp Australia. “The number of auction sales in Sydney fell off a cliff this year compared with last. For the month of October, auctioneer Damien Cooley had 57 per cent fewer auctions than the year before as sellers became fearful of putting their homes under the hammer. ‘There’s blood in the water … people are trying to sell their properties on the quiet because their prices are inflated,’ Cooley says.”

The Guardian. “Twenty years ago, a youngish economist destined to become a household name in Australia issued a warning to central banks everywhere. ‘[L]owering rates or providing ample liquidity when problems materialise but not raising rates as imbalances build up, can be rather insidious in the longer run,’ he said. ‘They promote a form of moral hazard that can sow the seeds of instability and of costly fluctuations in the real economy.’ So said Philip Lowe, the future Reserve Bank governor, in a paper he co-authored while on secondment at the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland with senior BIS economist Claudio Borio.”

“Of specific concern were financial imbalances, such as asset bubbles, that might emerge during stints of low inflation. In some circumstances, it would be appropriate for banks to take pre-emptive action ‘to preserve both financial and monetary stability.'”

“How central banks should act – and what they actually do – is at the heart of a fascinating if somewhat alarming new book by UK-based economic commentator Edward Chancellor. The Price of Time explores the history and role of interest rates. Central banks, much like the nursery rhyme about ‘an old lady who swallowed a fly,’ seem inured to solve each bout of market turmoil in a way that begets bigger instability in the future.”

“That interest rates might be climbing in Australia, the US, New Zealand and elsewhere doesn’t diminish Chancellor’s case. As he notes, nominal rates may be off the record lows set during the Covid pandemic but they remain well below inflation, leaving them negative in real terms. ‘The total calculated cost of each crisis is greater than the previous ones,’ Chancellor says. And ‘the geographical reach of them is more extensive.'”

“Excessively low interest rates pump up all manner of asset bubbles as investors desperate for some return on their money snap up property, shares, and until lately, cryptocurrency. ‘All these extraordinary low interest rates [have] got into everything,’ Chancellor told Guardian Australia. ‘And if we say we have the everything bubble, it sort of follows then that you’re going to have the everything bust.'”

“And as for that Borio-Lowe paper, Chancellor says they were on the money: ‘If you looked at real estate booms and credit booms, and put them together, you get what [they call] high-cost recessions.’ ‘It’d be interesting to confront [Lowe] with this research that he wrote,’ he says, noting that the RBA under Lowe had likely acted in a way ‘contradictory’ to his research with Borio on the dangers of allowing asset bubbles to inflate.”

“As to where Lowe now stands on the issue of overly low interest rates – the cash rate sat at a record low of 0.1% for 18 months until May 2022 – a spokesperson provided a short answer: ‘We are unable to help on this one.'”

Related Posts

We Were Spoiled Before

A report from the Orlando Business Journal in Florida. "After years of competitive bidding wars…

This Post Has 140 Comments

  1. ‘My advice now is to ask for everything,’ said Ben Stern, managing broker of Buyers Edge Co.’s Dupont Circle office in Washington, D.C. ‘In less-competitive neighborhoods buyers are successfully offering 10% less than the list price, and having a full-blown home inspection with the right to void their offer and the right to negotiate’

    That’s the spirit!

  2. ‘According to a National Association of Realtors survey, sales of existing homes were down in October compared to a year earlier and down 5.9% from September. There were decreases in every region of the US both month over month and year over year. That was the longest stretch of dropping sales ever recorded, dating back to 1999’

    That’s quite a shortage you got there Larry.

  3. ‘In April, former Disney chief Michael Eisner offered up his Malibu compound for $225 million but hasn’t yet found a buyer. The Manor, a famous 123-room Holmby Hills mansion, featured rooms dedicated to gift wrapping and flower cutting, hit the market in February for $165 million. No takers. In Beverly Crest, a $100-million mansion has been listed since January 2021. Crickets’

    This report s funny:

    What does the phrase white elephant mean?
    white elephant \WYTE-EL-uh-funt\ noun. 1 : a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit. 2 : an object no longer of value to its owner but of value to others. 3 : something of little or no value.

    1. QE was designed to make the already obscenely wealthy even moreso. Bernanke and Co. admitted it, calling it “the wealth effect” whereby when you shower the already wealthy with even more wealth, it trickles down to the lower classes. Except it doesn’t. The whole premise is a lie.

      Take this grotesque mansion for instance. Let’s hypothetically assume the value was $225 million at the peak. Let’s also assume that the houses in that zip code doubled from 2020 to now. For that one rich person, they just got a “gift” of over $110 million. The person whose house went from $110k to $225k just got a roughly $110k gift. The renter got a big fat $0. I’d like somebody to explain to me what kind of sense QE makes.

    1. If say a billion people in China protest , or overwhelm the police and Authorities , they could have a revolution that changes everything.
      They are treated like controlled animals in China and this is fantastic that the human spirit is emerging like this, in a place you would never expect it.
      Give me Liberty or give me death. This is awesome.
      In that the Globalists want this type of enslavement for the Globe, this is awesome that this is happening, and hopefully it will grow and grow. These people in China don’t have guns , but they have numbers.
      I can dream, can’t I?

    2. Lemme guess: “Fully vaccinated and boosted.”
      i always think Fentanyl/drugs if they are “rich” and younger.. Of course, I have no idea what happened here as I am just saying my reaction in general. Him having worked on Wall Street doesn’t decrease my suspicions.

      1. “Post-Pandemic Stress Disorder” (yes, that’s actually a thing to explain why hundreds of thousands of people are becoming “sudden unexplained deaths.”

  6. Nice to see at least some Chinese people finally pushing back against capricious, arbitrary CCP tyranny. Never forget: nearly half of Democrats supported fining or jailing those who questioned the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines.

    Chinese police clash with thousands protesting draconian COVID lockdowns as unprecedented civil unrest grips country – after ten died in fire when building doors were locked to stop virus spread

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11473455/Protests-erupt-China-thousands-streets-draconian-Covid-restrictions.html

    2. Next Covid-19 Strain May be More Dangerous, Lab Study Shows

      They’ve been saying that for the last few strains. Meanwhile “died suddenly for no apparent reason” keeps climbing, but no one at the CDC or FDA seems to be concerned.

    1. Over the years, women came out accusing the New York-based financier of sexually abusing them at his New Mexico ranch. Though he was never charged with a crime in the state, the compound has been painted as integral to his alleged sex trafficking operation by multiple women who claim they were trafficked and raped at the ranch.

      Epstein, who allegedly committed suicide in prison in 2019, also reportedly had plans to make the property a baby-making factory where he would inseminate victims.

      Computer scientist and writer Jaron Lanier told the New York Times that he once spoke to a scientist who related how Epstein’s goal was to have 20 women at a time impregnated at the 33,000-square-foot property, named Zorro Ranch and located outside Santa Fe.

      2. “Epstein, who allegedly committed suicide in prison in 2019, also reportedly had plans to make the property a baby-making factory where he would inseminate victims.”

        The reporter and editor got this part right.

  9. Denver saw a 56.8% share of homes for sale with a price drop, followed in Redfin’s analysis by Indianapolis and Salt Lake City, both at 54.7%.

    Is that a lot?

  11. Democrat-Bolsheviks don’t lack for zeal when it comes to carrying out orders from their globalist bankrollers.

    Broadway’s Lion King interpreter fired for being white settles case after backlash

    https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/broadways-lion-king-interpreter-fired-for-being-white-settles-case-after-backlash/news-story/2b5c50c319215dbb30e96dedce850f8f

    A sign-language interpreter was booted from Broadway’s Lion King for his skin colour — only to be told to “wipe your white tears” after he sued for discrimination.

  12. A reader sent these in:

    Kira Mason
    @kmasonrealtor
    Philadelphia: “Slowing” phase, as per John Burns @JBREC. Regions in this category “face alarming affordability levels, decelerating (or even declining) home price appreciation, and rapidly slowing sales—making capital investments less attractive.” We’ve got further to fall.

    https://twitter.com/kmasonrealtor/status/1596198027135311872

    This is a Google Maps photo of the bank that SBF, the Gemini guys and the Deltec guys bought. Per FDIC data (as reported by NY Times) in Q3 2022 deposits went from $10m to $84m, almost all from 4 new accounts. WHAT LOANS DID THE BANK MAKE WITH THESE FEDERALLY INSURED DEPOSITS?

    https://twitter.com/EpsilonTheory/status/1596133820511973377

    CarDealershipGuy

    Prediction: Lots of used car dealers will shut down in 2023.
    Here’s why:
    1) Lending is significantly tightening
    2) Car prices rapidly declining
    3) Inventory financing more expensive
    Go make friends with a local used car dealer… The RE might be up for-sale in 12-24 months.

    https://twitter.com/GuyDealership/status/1596135399776169984

    Breaking: 8 Congress Members tried to stop the SEC from inquiring into FTX by questioning the SEC’s authority to inquire about Crypto. 5 of those 8 members also received campaign donations from FTX, ranging from $2,900 to $11,600.

    https://twitter.com/PelosiTracker_/status/1596167104364847104

    The Kobeissi Letter

    Most Shocking FTX Developments:
    1. SBF’s parents are lawyers in compliance
    2. FTX spent $120+ million on homes for executives
    3. Somehow, FTX token still has a $500 million market cap
    4. Alameda Research lost $3.7 billion since 2021
    5. Bahamas government literally hacked FTX

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1596203957353086976

    Ali Wolf

    The market is healing

    https://twitter.com/AliWolfEcon/status/1595090449664024576

    CarDealershipGuy

    There are more Lamborghini Urus’ listed on eBay than there are Toyota Corollas. Corollas have been around for decades — Urus’ debuted less than 5 years ago and cost ~10X as much. Let that sink in.

    https://twitter.com/GuyDealership/status/1596205847104966657

    If you haven’t been able to sell your home and you decrease your price by 1.5%… just take it off the market and save everyone’s time…

    https://twitter.com/mortimer_1/status/1595919623215796224

    Siri: Show me a Prime Minister who doesn’t realize people in his own country can’t afford shelter or food… they have no money left over to be buying Bonds…
    Justin Trudeau
    Nov 21
    Officiel du gouvernement – Canada
    Update: Canadians can now purchase Ukraine Sovereignty Bonds. These bonds allow Canadians to provide direct support to Ukraine, so the Ukrainian government can keep providing essential services.

    https://twitter.com/mortimer_1/status/1594858511590371328

    The alarming stats:
    78% of millennials felt somewhat house poor
    44% of those identifying as house poor carry credit card balances
    To offset the cost of homeownership 46% worked side gigs, 40% relied on a second full-time job, 33% dipped into savings and investment accounts

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1596563267136393216

    I live in a beach resort community with lots of high-rise vacation condos. Thanksgiving weekend isn’t one of the busier tourist weekends, but it’s not usually completely dead. This year it’s completely dead.

    https://twitter.com/JesseBarstow/status/1596310285475893248

    MBS negative YoY. Banks dumping.

    https://twitter.com/IliaSakowski/status/1596278360644239364

    Here comes the new home supply.

    https://twitter.com/JeffWeniger/status/1596180191474515968

    SouthernLandDev

    I’m already having to drop my new builds by 20-30% in the SE in order to move inventory. Pivoting hard and fast. 2023 will be a bear, especially for vacation centered markets. The FOMO airbnb’ers jacked those markets bad.

    https://twitter.com/SouthernLandDev/status/1596575547651665921

    This smells… United furniture wakes up and decides to lay off all of its employees 2 days before Thanksgiving? Are we about to unearth another zombie?

    https://twitter.com/spomboy/status/1596547624655802368

    It angers me that someone like @benbernanke
    – who has literally worsened the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans (and even more globally) – is lauded as a sort of hero, instead of being universally condemned for his negligence, foolishness, arrogance & avarice.

    https://twitter.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1596554132478795776

    John Wake

    Quick video summary of Tom’s amazing analysis of the Phoenix real estate market.

    https://twitter.com/JohnWake/status/1596556282323836930

    You know what’s worse than renting? Paying a huge mortgage on a house you’re upside-down on while prices collapse.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1596542180948336642

    FTX US also gave $750,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund and $150,000 to the American Patriots PAC, both of which supported House Republican candidates. Read more details:

    https://twitter.com/unusual_whales/status/1596539622657433600

    FTX donated $1 million to the Super-PAC linked to Mitch McConnell, The Senate Leadership Fund, on October 27 just days before FTX declared bankruptcy.

    https://twitter.com/unusual_whales/status/1596509296627707905

    Can someone tell me what the fired Twitter employees did all day? No, seriously. Elon fired 75% of them and Twitter still works the same.

    https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1596556566529916928

    Fed Weekly Remittance to Treasury 😂

    https://twitter.com/BlacklionCTA/status/1596608477899767808

    The Kobeissi Letter

    JUST IN: Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, donated over $70 million in customer funds to politicians for midterm elections. This is the most elaborate case of fraud in history with many people involved.

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1596519433878798336

    1. ‘This is a Google Maps photo of the bank that SBF, the Gemini guys and the Deltec guys bought’

      Looks like a lawnmower repair shop.

    2. 5 of those 8 members also received campaign donations from FTX, ranging from $2,900 to $11,600.

      LOL. I can buy off a Congresscritter for a measly $2,900? Wow, who knew they were so cheap?

      1. A comment:

        BBC and CNN, where is your international news coverage of these demonstrations. Speak up and do your job.

        1. The MSM would rather focus on the antics of a certain clan of Armenian-American “influencer” trollops, or the latest musings of Meghan Markle.

        2. The Financial Times
          Chinese politics & policy
          China rocked by protests as zero-Covid anger spreads
          Tensions run into second day after vigil ends with clashes with police in Shanghai
          Police block Wulumuqi Road in Shanghai on Sunday. The street is named after the Chinese city of Urumqi, where a deadly fire on Thursday killed ten people
          Thomas Hale in Shanghai and Tom Mitchell in Singapore an hour ago

          Protests in Shanghai escalated on Sunday evening as police struggled to disperse large crowds who gathered in the city, part of a nationwide movement that poses one of the most brazen challenges to the Chinese Communist party’s authority in decades.

          The unrest began on Saturday night and centred on a road named after the Chinese city of Urumqi, where a deadly fire on Thursday killed ten people. That incident, in the northwestern Xinjiang region, fuelled social media outrage and prompted a series of vigils around the country, as people blamed coronavirus restrictions for the tragedy — allegations that the authorities denied.
          …

      2. Awesome, the people are calling for the overthrow of the CCP.
        CNN isn’t going to cover the Revolution.
        Klaus Schwab said that China was the model.
        This could spread to the entire globe ..

        1. “Awesome, the people are calling for the overthrow of the CCP.”

          Indeed. Begs the question, “How many of ’em care enough about Taiwan to die over it?”

      1. Life under Pooh Bear sux

        Life under their ideological brothers, the Globalist/Socialists, the party of Joe Biden, here in the US and other parts tries really hard to suck in the same general direction.

    3. The Financial Times
      Chinese equities
      Chinese stocks drop as zero-Covid protests erupt across country
      Hang Seng China Enterprises index falls as much as 4.5%
      Protesters in Beijing wave blank sheets of paper on Sunday to demonstrate against the government’s zero-Covid policy
      Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong an hour ago

      Shares in China fell on Monday after protests against the country’s harsh Covid-19 policies erupted in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities over the weekend that weighed on market sentiment and added to uncertainty about the outlook of the world’s second-largest economy.

      In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng China Enterprises index dropped as much as 4.5 per cent on Monday morning, while China’s CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed shares fell as much as 2.8 per cent. The stock benchmarks later pulled back to be down about 2 and 1.5 per cent, respectively.

      The declines followed nationwide demonstrations against harsh pandemic restrictions. Discontent has surged after a fire in the city of Urumuqi killed 10 people on Thursday, prompting a series of vigils across China as authorities denied allegations that coronavirus restrictions had hampered rescue efforts and prevented residents from escaping the blaze.

      Traders said the protests added to uncertainty about China’s direction as Covid-19 cases continued to rise, pressuring local officials to step up economically disruptive enforcement of President Xi Jinping’s strict zero-Covid policy.

      “Investor confidence has already been battered this year, and it’s difficult to comprehend what the direction of the market will be next,” said Louis Tse, managing director of Hong Kong-based brokerage Wealthy Securities.
      …

  14. Ontario’s prices have dropped 18.26 per cent from $1,075,800 in February to $879,400 in October, while British Columbia’s prices have fallen 8.51 per cent from $1,048,900 to $959,600 over the same period.”

    If you had a Venn diagram of the reckless, greedy fools who bought at the peak of what was clearly an unsustainable housing bubble, and the cucks who voted for WEF puppet Lil’ Fidel, I bet the overlap would be 90+ percent. I look forward to seeing these FBs get financially destroyed.

  15. The Financial Times
    Prof. Bear:
    Great read on yesterday’s blog. Loved the story. Thanks
    Cryptocurrencies
    Miami nightclubs mourn absence of high-rolling crypto entrepreneurs
    ‘Revenge of the nerds’ screeches to a halt after collapse in value of digital currencies

    1. There are more Lamborghini Urus’ listed on eBay than there are Toyota Corollas.

      I’d wager there’s been a corresponding increase in crypto bros slinking into Micky Ds asking for their old jobs back.

      1. There are more Lamborghini Urus’ listed on eBay than there are Toyota Corollas.

        A brake job on one of those probably costs more than a Corolla

      1. One of the best laughs this week was Senator Kennedy asking a panel of regulators “Would Any Single One Of You Hire Sam Bankman-Fried To Manage A Food Truck?” All he got was smirks and silence so then he asked the same about SBF’s girlfriend. More crickets. Classic.

    1. Comments:

      How do you give back a car?

      Gave back your Tesla. You realize how privileged you sound? You should do us all a favor and give up your twitter next.

      It’s great you can afford such luxurious decisions on a whim based on your personal feelings. Others are not so lucky and struggle to even eat, let alone choose the car they NEED to drive for survival.

      Let me guess, ANYTHING you disagree with is white supremacy, right?

      It’s amazing that the people who call everyone that doesn’t think like them nazis…And then turn around and buy a vehicle founded by literal nazis and their excuse is “well it’s not 1940 anymore”

      This might be the biggest self-own in internet history, VW, lmmfao!

      It’s hard to believe just how silly some people will be just to feel better about themselves & show everyone else just how “good” they think they are. 🤣🤣🤣

  17. Last week at the G20 summit in Bali the attendees dined on wagyu beef.

    Washington Post — Salted ants. Ground crickets. Why you should try edible insects (11/27/2022):

    “Farmed insects produce far less greenhouse gas and require much less land and water than conventional livestock. Insects also generate more biomass with less input. Crickets, for example, are 12 times more efficient than cows at converting feed into edible weight.

    Already, 2 billion people eat insects, according to one estimate — primarily in parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia. The practice dates back millennia. “I always thought, even back in the ’90s, someday, maybe, [Americans] will do this,” Sanchez says.

    The coming years may prove her right. The edible insect industry is ramping up — one report predicts the market will reach $9.6 billion by 2030. Consumers can already find foods like salted ants on Amazon and cricket powder protein bars in Swiss grocery stores. Recent years have seen numerous media stories extolling the virtues of insect-eating.”

    Let’s read that last sentence again:

    “Recent years have seen numerous media stories extolling the virtues of insect-eating.”

    Real Journalists.

    “But before insects can become common fare, more diners must be convinced that six-legged critters are, in fact, food. Through tasting experiments, surveys and educational demos, researchers, entrepreneurs and educators are delving into consumers’ psychology and finding that resistance to insect-eating can be strong.

    The prominence of insects on packaging can also influence consumers, says Dror Tamir, co-founder and CEO of Hargol FoodTech in Israel. “We did a lot of trials working with consumers to have their feedback on how much we should emphasize the grasshoppers,” he says. “Having the grasshoppers in front of the package is not a good thing for us.”

    But before consumers feel compelled to grab a pack of dried crickets, companies will have to lure them in with advertisements. “Telling people that they should eat more insects because it’s good for them and/or good for the planet doesn’t seem to have much effect on behavior,” says experimental psychologist and gastrophysicist Charles Spence of the University of Oxford in England.

    https://archive.ph/Xbcja

    2. I saw a clip from the British Bake Off, where one of the contestants was using bugs in his recipe. On of the judges, an old biddy, remarked that bugs were the future.

      I harbor little doubt that NONE of that was spontaneous, and that the baker and the judge were given orders on what to do and say.

    4. 2 billion people eat insects, according to one estimate — primarily in parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia. The practice dates back millennia.

      Are these insects with exoskeletons? I kind of doubt it. So you might be knowingly misleading.

      six-legged critters are, in fact, food

      I have had my share of peeled crawfish. It’s the meal that can work up an appetite. I guess they have eight legs, but whatever. You’re not supposed to eat the armor of these bugs. Everybody knows that. Just how do you filet an ant?

  18. “The reduction could be as much as 20 percent.”

    I predict many of the myriad predictions for 20 percent price reductions will prove too small, for numerous reasons:

    1) The magnitude of the rate increases we have experienced this year already reduced mortgage borrower purchase budgets by over 20%.

    2) The value of real estate as an inflation hedge becomes highly questionable when prices are falling.

    3) Flippers who were eager to buy in recent years don’t want to catch themselves falling knives.

    4) Investors who bought in recent years will try to sell in order to cut their losses.

    5) The iBuyer sector has imploded, eliminating another source of demand.

    6) iBuyer HODLings of inventory may soon find itself on the market, to cut the losses of these losers on their white elephant inventory.

    7) Crypto millionaire demand may have waned, with cryptocurrencies down by over 70%.

    8) Other risk asset HODLers sitting on investment losses are in a weakened position to buy. This includes homeowners who have to sell their own declining value house to buy another.

    9) It appears most developed country economies are either entering or are already in a recession. Rising unemployment dampens demand for big ticket items like houses.

    10) Despite myriad rate increases since early 2022, inflation is still running hot, and central bankers have indicated their intentions to continue raising interest rates until it is contained.

    11) Past housing busts of lesser severity have seen price declines of over 20% play out over a multi-year period.

    12) The looming collapse of The Everything Bubble chills the mood for making major investments on leverage. Nobody wants to get stucco with an underwater mortgage.

    I’m sure there are a few other reasons that I am forgetting.

    So in short, the prediction that price declines will be limited to only 20% seems overly rosy.

    “‘The [way the] market works is that if the buyer is not prepared to agree [to the price], then there will be no sale. This means that prices have to fall,’ said Tamm.”

    Budget limits matter!

    1. I thought of a few more reasons:

      13) After four straight decades where buying and holding real estate was a reliable road to riches, we are due for a major paradigm shift, as those who recently leveraged up to buy have their heads handed to them and those still thinking about buying become precautious about the risk of catching a falling knife.

      14) The Fed extended the housing bubble with the introduction of Quantitative Easing targeted at mortgage backed securities circa 2012. Now that inflation is uncontained and increasing numbers of American families are entirely priced out of the housing market by speculators trying to cash in on the Fed’s housing price support, they are not well positioned to continue subsidizing housing price inflation.

      15) Fed leaders have openly acknowledged that housing prices are too high, and have expressed interest to bring them back down to more affordable levels.

      Don’t fight the Fed!

  19. Canada is not a free nation.

    ‘What if the worst had happened?’ Trudeau defends convoy response (11/25/2022):

    “Canada’s prime minister says he is “serene and confident” in his decision to invoke never-before-used emergency powers to end a protest of pandemic public health measures that occupied the nation’s capital for three weeks last winter.

    Justin Trudeau told a public inquiry Friday that he had to consider what might happen if he didn’t take action to end the so-called Freedom Convoy occupation.

    Trudeau’s testimony is capping six weeks of hearings at the public inquiry examining the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in February to clear the streets of Ottawa and deter people from returning to blockades at Canada-U.S. border crossings. The hearings have given Canadians extraordinary insight into the inner workings of government during the crisis, which culminated in the Feb. 14 invocation of the Emergencies Act.

    The act gave authorities broad new powers they used to freeze the bank accounts of protesters, ban travel to protest sites and compel tow trucks to clear out vehicles blocking Ottawa streets.

    The inquiry must now determine whether Trudeau was justified in using the act, which had never been invoked since its passage in 1988. The Conservative opposition, protest leaders and civil liberties groups all claim the government overstepped.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/25/trudeau-defends-freedom-convoy-emergencies-act-00070826

    Requiring injection of a deadly experimental mRNA gene therapy as a condition of employment or travel between provinces and keeping your slaves (they’re not citizens) imprisoned inside the country sounds like ample justification for a beheading.

    1. Private Documents Reveal Trudeau Was Going to Use Tanks to Stop Freedom Convoy Protests (11/25/2022):

      “Documents reveal that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau inquired about the use of martial law in February during the Freedom Convoy protests. 

      Two of Canada’s federal ministers talked about using tanks against the peaceful protests who were advocating for their right to not be mandated to get a vaccine. 

      On April 25, The Public Order Emergency Commission looked into whether the use of wartime vehicles to stop the trucker protests was justified or not.

      https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2022/11/25/private-documents-reveal-trudeau-was-going-to-use-tanks-to-stop-freedom-convoy-protests-n2616383

      Globalists gonna globe.

  20. Fauci says ‘we need to keep the politics out of’ investigating COVID origins (11/27/2022):

    “Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s outgoing chief medical adviser, on Sunday urged officials to “keep the politics out of” investigating the origins of COVID-19 in China.

    Speaking with moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Fauci said he is keeping an open mind, but he reiterated that the evidence is “quite strong” that the virus occurred naturally.

    “They’re very suspicious of anybody trying to accuse them,” Fauci said of the Chinese government. “We need to have an open dialogue with their scientists and our scientists, keep the politics out of it.”

    No, we don’t. See you in court soon, because you are guilty of medical genocide, and the Day Of The Rope is coming.

    “Fauci pushed back on the notion that the Chinese Communist Party covered up the pandemic’s origins.

    “Not necessarily the scientists that we know and we have dealt with and collaborated with productively for decades, but the whole establishment — a political and other establishment in China, even when there’s nothing at all to hide — they act secretive, which absolutely triggers an appropriate suspicion,” Fauci said.

    https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3751605-fauci-says-we-need-to-keep-the-politics-out-of-investigating-covid-origins/

    Nuremberg Trials v2.0

    1. Unredacted Documents Reveal Fauci Tried to Shift the Narrative On the Covid-19 Lab Leak Theory (11/26/2022):

      “Early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci and his Democrat constitutes attempted damage control when news started to break that the virus originated from a Wuhan lab leak. 

      Guardian reporter Jimmy Tobias obtained unredacted emails through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that details a teleconference between Fauci and several virologists discussing the coronavirus and its possible origins on February 1, 2020. 

      Although Fauci and health officials downplayed the fact that the virus came from a lab leak, the emails indicate that at the time they were very concerned that that possibility was true.

      In one thread of emails, scientist Jeremy Farrar of the Wellcome Trust, warned Fauci of the “wild west,” referring to either the landscape of infectious disease research in China or the WIV specifically.

      Infectious disease researcher Kristian Andersen put the idea of alerting the FBI and MI5 regarding the furin cleavage site on the spike protein of COVID-19, however, Fauci ignored her concern and decided not to take her advice. 

      The majority of scientists believe that furin cleavage sites, such as those in COVID-19, are not naturally occurring, which proves that the theory that the virus originated in a laboratory is true.

      https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2022/11/26/unredacted-documents-reveal-fauci-tried-to-shift-the-narrative-on-the-covid-19-lab-leak-theory-n2616390

      Globalists gonna globe.

    1. I took the car to the warehouse club on Friday to get the tires rotated and balanced. It was pretty quiet. I sat in the snack bar area to wait, which gave me a front row seat for the clerk who checks people’s receipts on the way out. More often than not she was idle. I get that food shoppers had filled up their larders before Thanksgiving, but most baskets I saw were food laden. I think I saw one person buying a TV. Anyway, I was expecting the place to be busy.

        2. COSTCO CRAZY GAS LINE

          The line at the Sam’s Club gas station was crazy too on Friday. It’s 40 cents less that what other stations are charging (2.89 vs. 3.29)

  22. ‘All these extraordinary low interest rates [have] got into everything,’ Chancellor told Guardian Australia. ‘And if we say we have the everything bubble, it sort of follows then that you’re going to have the everything bust.’”

    Gosh, I fear this portends a mass die-off in the arse of speculator dreams of effortless riches. Such a calamity!

        1. ‘What little we know thus far about FTX suggests an Enron on steroids, fueled by the oxygen of woke capitalism.’

          ‘While the FTX narrative is similarly tethered in technological innovation — blockchain and cryptocurrency — its business model is even more opaque than Enron’s, which at least had real energy assets at its core. While blockchain represents a bona fide technological advance with meaningful promise, its application to cryptocurrency has opened wide the door to the feloniously inclined. Exploiting many investors’ rudimentary understanding of fiat money, cryptocurrency promoters’ pitch boils down to “So why not crypto?” — eliding the fact that the U.S. government has a monopoly on the police power necessary to enforce the writ of its currency. Crypto only has value if the confidence game is sustained in perpetuity.’

          How to operate a ponzi scheme isn’t a talent I’ve personally observed in my years of capitalist endeavors. Maybe back in college? No. Along those lines, when the heck are we gonna start regulating these ponzi schemes?

      6. FTX Cryptocurrency Exchange
        ftx.com
        FTX Crypto Exchange, built by traders, for everyone. Buy and sell BTC, ETH, USDT, FTT and other popular products with low fees.
        …
        Case Background

        On November 11, 2022 and November 14, 2022, FTX Trading Ltd. and 101 affiliated debtors (collectively, the “Debtors”) each filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The cases are pending before the Honorable John T. Dorsey, and are jointly administered under Case No. 22-11068.

        Important Information & Dates

        A hearing on the First Day Motions (the “First Day Hearing”) was held on November 22, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. (prevailing Eastern Time) before the Honorable Judge T. Dorsey, United States Bankruptcy Judge, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, 824 North Market Street, 5th Floor, Courtroom No. 5, Wilmington, Delaware 19801.  A final hearing on certain of the First Day Motions will be held on January 11, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (prevailing Eastern Time).

        Please click below to view and download the Debtors’ First Day Motions & First Day Orders:
        …

      7. Business
        5 major revelations about the collapse of crypto giant FTX
        November 23, 202212:23 PM ET
        David Gura
        4-Minute Listen
        As FTX collapsed in early November, Samuel Bankman-Fried handed over control of the cryptocurrency exchange he founded to John J. Ray III, a corporate turnaround specialist.
        Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

        Lawyers for the once-mighty crypto-exchange FTX described a company riddled with dysfunction and mismanagement during a court hearing on Tuesday, as they sought to explain how the sprawling empire founded by Sam Bankman-Fried was brought to its knees in a matter of days.

        “We have witnessed one of the most abrupt and difficult collapses in the history of corporate America,” said James Bromley, an attorney representing the company.

        Last month, FTX was one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Today, it is figuring out how to sell off assets, pay customers and satisfy creditors as part of a large and complex bankruptcy filing. And its new management team, brought in right before the exchange filed for Chapter 11, is just beginning to understand the magnitude of the mess they inherited.

        Here’s what we learned during the first court hearing in the bankruptcy process:

        Customers’ money is M.I.A.
        …
        https://www.npr.org/2022/11/23/1138881426/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-bankruptcy-crypto-cryptocurrency-collapse

      8. Markets
        The Decoder: ‘Have Fun Staying Poor’
        Four little words: At best a plea for people to open their minds. At worst, crypto-flavored cyberbullying.
        By Daniel Kuhn
        AccessTimeIcon Mar 3, 2021 at 10:17 a.m. PST
        Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 5:20 a.m. PDT
        HFSP

        If you’ve sold your bitcoin too soon, someone on Twitter is going to tell you: “Have Fun Staying Poor.” It’s a phrase often attributed to bitcoin and virtual reality enthusiast Udi Wertheimer (who declined to comment for this article) but it has taken on a life on its own.

        So, what exactly does “have fun staying poor” mean?
        …
        https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/03/03/the-decoder-have-fun-staying-poor/

      9. My apologies in advance for posting an outdated article written by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

        1. News & Insights
          Culture
          Bitcoin Magazine
          If You Care About Bitcoin, You Should Onboard People Individually
          November 05, 2022 — 09:00 pm EDT
          Written by Mark Maraia for Bitcoin Magazine ->

          Bitcoiners want to help other people adopt bitcoin. There are many methods to do this, but in-person conversations work best. How many people can you onboard?

          This is an opinion editorial by Mark Maraia, an entrepreneur, author of “Rainmaking Made Simple” and a Bitcoiner.

          The bitcoin price is not the main driver of the meeting of the minds.

          I want to issue a few challenges to all Bitcoiners who profess to believe strongly in the value of bitcoin. I always considered myself an outsider until I discovered Bitcoin. That said, I’m a boomer — not exactly a beloved demographic of Bitcoin advocates. I was also trained as a lawyer. What does that mean? Twice cursed. Lawyers are educated and trained to look for the downside. What are the downsides or weaknesses or blindspots in the Bitcoin community? I’m seeing multiple blindspots and feel moved to share a few.

          One blindspot of Bitcoiners is that most of us fail to grasp the full power of peer-to-peer human networks as a tool for adoption. That means person-to-person. Bitcoiners as a group are quite willing to teach those curious about Bitcoin one-on-one. My only request is for us all to do more of it. 

          Establish A Reasonable Goal

          How many people can you show how to get off zero and get some bitcoin each day, week, month and year? Don’t just have them download a wallet, educate them why Bitcoin is so amazing. We’ve already seen Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and more recently, Gwyneth Paltrow give away bitcoin. Why not you? What are you waiting for?

          If you truly believe that bitcoin’s purchasing power will grow, then you’re sharing some of your satoshis with friends and family is no big deal. If you’re a pleb who doesn’t have much bitcoin, give away a few satoshis via the Lightning Network. Give to the most curious people and educate them through hands-on experience. Is a local economy more resilient if every adult can transact and transmit value using the Bitcoin network? Absolutely. Even if only a small percentage learn, that is much better than the current reality. The more energy expended teaching people one-on-one, the better and more lasting success for bitcoin adoption.
          …
          https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/if-you-care-about-bitcoin-you-should-onboard-people-individually

      10. Have you noticed misleading news stories claiming the FTX implosion brought down the stock market?

        The reality is that the FTX fallout landed squarely on cryptocurrency HODLers, while the stock market rallied.

      11. Is CZ’s bailout working better than SBF’s bailout worked?

        You have to wonder if the whole Ponzi finance cryptoverse is beyond salvation at this point.

        1. News
          Business
          Binance Launches $1 Billion Raise for Crypto ‘Recovery Fund’, Could Buy FTX Assets
          Binance chief Changpeng Zhao said the fund would initially have $1 billion to buy up distressed assets, but the figure could be increased.
          By Alys Key
          Nov 24, 2022
          3 min read
          Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (L); FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. (Images via Binance/FTX)

          Binance’s founder and CEO said the firm’s crypto rescue fund will initially have $1 billion to dole out as it steps into the role of industry white knight.

          In an interview with Bloomberg, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said the fund would have a “loose” structure and be publicly visible on the blockchain, with other industry players also able to contribute.

          “The industry needs saving now, not in 2023,” he said.

          A blog post outlining the launch also suggested that the fund could grow to as much as $2 billion “if the need arises.” The team will first assess how far the $1 billion goes before potentially injecting more cash, CZ said. The post also included the public address for these funds.

          “Roughly, we’re thinking of setting up $1 billion first, and if that’s not enough we’ll allocate more. If after six months there’s unused funds and there’s not that many projects–hopefully the industry will have recovered by then–we can withdraw it back.”
          …
          https://decrypt.co/115485/binance-eyes-1-billion-raise-crypto-recovery-fund-could-buy-ftx-assets

          1. “Could Buy FTX Assets”

            Didn’t CZ pass on an opportunity to do just that a couple of weeks ago?

        1. Barron’s
          Cryptocurrencies
          The Trader
          Searching for a Bottom in Crypto After FTX
          By Al Root
          Nov. 25, 2022 8:05 pm ET
          George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, faced a bank run in “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
          Alamy

          Since the FTX debacle, crypto-related assets have gotten crushed. Crypto bears believe that a bubble has popped and some sanity is slowly being restored to financial markets. Maybe, but when fear and liquidity issues hit any financial asset, forced selling pushes prices down further and faster than fundamentals alone would imply.

          Bears who don’t like crypto fundamentals should watch out for an end-of-fear bounce that typically follows events like the FTX bankruptcy. Crypto assets won’t go down in a straight line. Nothing ever does.
          …
          https://www.barrons.com/articles/searching-for-a-bottom-in-crypto-after-ftx-51669424712

      13. Crypto lender Genesis subject of probe by regulators – Barron’s
        Fri, November 25, 2022 at 1:33 PM·1 min read

        Nov 25 (Reuters) – State securities regulators are investigating Genesis Global Capital as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into the interconnectedness of crypto firms, Barron’s reported on Friday citing a comment from the Alabama Securities Commission Director.

        While it does not directly serve individual investors, Genesis backs products offered by crypto companies such as Circle Internet Financial, the principal operator of one of the largest stablecoins, USD Coin, and by Gemini. Those products pay yield to customers who deposit certain cryptocurrencies on the platforms.

        The inquiry will look into Genesis’s connection to such retail investors, and whether it or other industry participants might have violated securities laws, the report added.
        …
        https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crypto-lender-genesis-subject-probe-213314632.html

      14. Yahoo
        CoinDesk
        FTX Contagion Revives Dreaded 2022 Crypto Knell – the ‘Withdrawal Halt’
        Jocelyn Yang
        Wed, November 23, 2022 at 11:23 AM·5 min read

        In the crypto industry in 2022, the phrase “halting withdrawals” is like black smoke billowing out of a building. Damage is certain.

        Technically it means that a crypto exchange or lender has gated customers from being able to get their money or digital tokens back – typically because there’s just not enough assets on hand to meet redemption requests. The likely upshot, though, is that the business is unlikely to recover easily from the destruction. In many cases, a bankruptcy filing is the next step.

        Now, the rapid unraveling of once-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire, including the FTX exchange and the crypto trading firm Alameda Research, has unleashed a fresh wave of crypto exchanges and lenders halting customers’ withdrawals over the past few weeks.
        …
        https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ftx-contagion-revives-dreaded-2022-192355293.html

      15. Joel Khalili
        Business
        Nov 25, 2022 1:17 PM
        Crypto Contagion Is Spreading, Fast
        The collapse of FTX has set off a chain reaction that threatens to topple one of crypto’s oldest and most respected institutions.

        The fallout from the collapse of FTX just won’t stop—and now it’s threatening one of crypto’s most important institutions. On November 16, Genesis Global Capital’s lending unit suspended withdrawals due to “unprecedented market turmoil.” Now, the firm is seeking emergency funding of at least $500 million to ensure it has enough cash on hand to pay its customers. All the while, the crypto industry watches nervously.

        On November 21, Genesis said it had “no plans to file for bankruptcy imminently,” but it has since appointed an external party to advise on its financial predicament. Such moves have done little to calm twitchy customers. Halting withdrawals has been the precursor to multiple previous crypto collapses this year, including at FTX and Celsius. Genesis did not respond when asked to confirm whether bankruptcy was under consideration.

        If Genesis were to fold, it would deliver another gut-punch to an industry already reeling from the fall of FTX, one of its most highly regarded companies. If an institution the size and standing of Genesis is vulnerable, can trust be placed in the stability of any crypto firm? Yes, the industry is expected to survive the ordeal, but the days of minimal oversight, generous funding, and rapid expansion are over.
        …
        https://www.wired.com/story/ftx-collapse-genesis-crypto/

        1. “…but the days of minimal oversight, generous funding, and rapid expansion are over.”

          Regulation will be the kiss of death for the cryptoverse, as the absence of regulation was a key selling point for cryptocurrencies.

    3. FTX gave $18m to TOGETHER trial

      I don’t recall the specifics but FTX wasn’t the only one giving big bucks to dunk on ivermectin.

  24. Has the DNC condemned the right-wing extremists calling for an end to CCP tyranny?

    Wave of civil unrest grips China ‘in largest anti-government protests since Tiananmen Square’: Police attack anti-lockdown activists on bus and rallies openly call for Xi to resign as fury over Zero-Covid policy flares for THIRD day after deadly flat fire

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11474367/Anti-lockdown-protests-China-spread-fury-grows-zero-Covid-policy.html

  25. Irene Cara
    @Irene_Cara
    ·
    Gave myself a very special birthday gift today. I got vaccinated !!
    5:21 PM · Mar 18, 2021

    https://twitter.com/Irene_Cara/status/1372659506400931841?s=20&t=ETQ-4UgMk94MpQnc08FN2A

    “cause of death was “currently unknown.”

    Hear that a lot lately.

    ‘Fame’ and ‘Flashdance’ singer Irene Cara has died at 63

    November 26, 2022

    Irene Cara, the singer-actress best known for starring in and belting the title tracks from the 1980s movies Fame and Flashdance, has died. She was 63.

    Cara died at her home in Florida, said her publicist, Judith Moose, who announced the news on Cara’s social media account on Saturday. She said a cause of death was “currently unknown.”

  29. Creepy Orwellian tech companies can be counted on to work hand-in-globe with their CCP ideological comrades to surveil, censor, and suppress freedom-seekers whenever and wherever they attempt to resist tyranny.

    Apple hobbled a crucial tool of dissent in China weeks before widespread protests broke out

    https://qz.com/apple-airdrop-china-protest-tool-1849824435

    Anti-government demonstrations will have to manage without a key communication vehicle

  31. Fighting “white supremacy” Alyssa Milano trades in her Tesla to buy a car made by the company founded by the Nazi’s and Hitler.

    Alyssa Milano
    @Alyssa_Milano
    ·
    Follow
    I gave back my Tesla.

    I bought the VW ev.

    I love it.

    I’m not sure how advertisers can buy space on Twitter. Publicly traded company’s products being pushed in alignment with hate and white supremacy doesn’t seem to be a winning business model.

    8:52 AM · Nov 26, 2022

    https://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/1596502100066045952?s=20&t=kL1HD_wMYR7MDiGDD4-_CA

    2. I gave back my Tesla.

      Selling is not giving back Aly.

      Your other statements are equally wrong and illogical.

  32. Re: Excessively low interest rates pump up all manner of asset bubbles

    Not to mention Ponzi schemes . . .

    1. “After 15 Break-Ins, A Portland Business Finally Calls It Quits”

      https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/after-15-break-ins-portland-business-finally-calls-it-quits

      (snip)

      Progressives are hell bent on fixing the world, climate, capitalism and every form of social injustice…. just don’t look at the destruction in the cities under their control.

      Take Portland resident, Marcy Landolfo, who finally hit her breaking point. As KATU reports, this week marked the 15th break-in at her PDX store within a year and a half in the city that spawned the radical-leftist Antifa movement.

      Landolfo said most of those repairs at the Northeast Portland location were paid for out of pocket. Other times, she just left the windows boarded up. “It’s just too much with the losses that are not covered by insurance, the damages, everything. It’s just not sustainable,” Landolfo said.

      KATU asked why Landolfo decided to close now, instead of keeping doors open through the holiday shopping season.

      “The products that are being targeted are the very expensive winter products and I just felt like the minute I get those in the store they’re going to get stolen,” she said.

      Landolfo said she’s worried about her employees, and no longer sees this location as a feasible business model.

      “The problem is, as small businesses, we cannot sustain those types of losses and stay in business. I won’t even go into the numbers of how much has been out of pocket,” she said. If only the progressives who effectively run her city were aware of the hellhole they have made it into, maybe this could have been avoided, but alas – anyone who speaks out against the idiotically socialist practices of these “progressive” ghettos is immediately blasted as a racist, white supremacist, etc, and promptly canceled.

      When Rains was broken into in late October, KATU reached out to Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office; his team responded that they’re working to increase funding for business repair grants through Prosper Portland. Because somehow for socialists it makes more sense to pay fore reparations instead of preventing the crime from occurting in the first place. Then again, all such Democrat strongholds are all about reparations.

      Needless to say, for Landolfo that was not enough.

      “Paying for glass that’s great, but that is so surface and does nothing for the root cause of the problem, so it’s never going to change,” she said, gradually realizing why socialism never works.

      The mayor’s office also said they participated in a retail safety summit in October, and cited recent efforts to streamline the permitting process for things like storefront lighting. News channel KATU asked how that work is going, and it was still waiting to hear back.

          1. “Marvin Gaye — Sixties Medley”

            Awesome!

            Never heard that, thanks for posting.

            Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell recorded a song that puts a smile on my face every time I hear it to this day.

            Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

            https://youtu.be/ABfQuZqq8wg

  36. ‘One should remember that what happened during the pandemic was not healthy either. We are comparing ourselves to a unique period where the market was completely crazy, and we also had low interest rates and low inflation. You might even be able to talk about a normalisation instead of a disaster’

    For Claudia:

    Titanic Soundtrack – Nearer my god to thee
    Apr 26, 2012

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

    3 minutes.

    1. Does this family advise that possibly it wasn’t a good idea to murder 10,000 Russian speaking Ukrainians over the past decade and a half?

  38. Linked from Revolver News.

    “A Saskatoon woman is in shock after her mother died suddenly in a drug store allegedly within minutes of receiving her COVID-19 booster shot on Sept. 14.

    On Thursday, Stephanie Foster told SASKTODAY.ca that her mother Carol Pearce was visiting her at her home on the morning of Sept. 14 in Saskatoon until it was time for her appointment.

    Pearce left for her booster shot and that would be the last time her daughter and granddaughter would see her.

    SASKTODAY.ca tracked down a witness to the alleged event and she recounted what she heard and saw. We have agreed to let the witness remain anonymous and call her Heather as she fears losing her job.”

    Fears losing her job? Because it’s Canada.

    “Heather told SASKTODAY.ca that she was in the store when she heard screaming and crying.

    “People started screaming,” she said.

    “People were crying, just about everybody that worked there was crying and freaking and hugging each other and just losing their [sh**],” Heather told SASKTODAY.ca.

    “They were saying in the store that it was about seven minutes,” after Pearce got the booster shot that she collapsed on the floor, said Heather.

    “It wasn’t long at all before the ambulance was there,” she said.

    A spokesperson from Saskatchewan Health told SASKTODAY.ca on Thursday that Pearce’s death was from natural causes.

    “The Saskatchewan coroner’s service has investigated this instance and determined that the person died from natural causes,” Dale Hunter, communications consultant from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health said in an email Thursday.

    https://www.sasktoday.ca/central/local-news/stoon-woman-dies-allegedly-after-covid-booster-daughter-in-shock-5858942

    100% safe and effective.

    1. She didn’t even make it out of the drugstore. I’ll bet that there were people waiting for their jab and even after watching her keel over they stayed in line.

      1. there were people waiting for their jab and even after watching her keel over they stayed in line.

        Some even took cuts through the melee.

    2. A spokesperson from Saskatchewan Health told SASKTODAY.ca on Thursday that Pearce’s death was from natural causes.

      Mass Formation Psychosis is one hell of a drug.

      1. A spokesperson from Saskatchewan Health told SASKTODAY.ca on Thursday that Pearce’s death was from natural causes.

        I wonder what the dead Canadian doctor count is now.

  39. The Washington Post is globalist scum media.

    Washington Post Editorial Board — After more than 600 mass shootings this year, let’s be honest about guns (11/27/2022):

    “Too often these tragedies are written off to individual cases of mental illness. That does not explain why the United States has had more than 600 mass shootings every year since 2020 and why no other country has anything close to this level of gun violence. We must confront the truth about guns in America and why it is so easy for practically anyone to get them — including some that are weapons of war.”

    These Marxist globalists want you disarmed so they can implement tyranny like as experienced the past few years in Canada, UK, EU, AUS, and NZ.

    “The fact that no single action will stop all mass shootings is no excuse not to do things that could prevent some of them or lower the toll when they happen. President Biden is right to call for another nationwide assault weapons ban, which he helped enact for 10 years when he was a senator in 1994. Poll after poll show wide support for stricter gun laws. The House passed the ban in July, but the Senate has yet to act.”

    The Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting animals for food. It’s primary purpose is for the resistance to and overthrow of tyrannical government.

    “Earlier this year, Democrats and some Republicans worked together to pass a gun safety bill as the nation mourned the 19 elementary school students and two teachers who died from a horrific mass shooting in Uvalde, Tex. The new law included more funding for mental health services and school safety, expanded background checks on 18- to 21-year-olds trying to buy guns, and more funding for programs that help seize guns from troubled individuals. It was a start, but lawmakers cannot stop there.”

    https://archive.ph/nFz0T

    Cannot stop there?

    History informs us *where* it stops, and it’s always the same:

    Registration
    Confiscation
    Extermination

    Marxism can not be negotiated with, under any circumstances. The only option is its complete and total destruction.

    1. Before we can even begin to have this conversations, let’s disarm and get rid of all personal security details for politicians and the wealthy. Then we’ll sit down and listen to what they have to say, and still not do it.

  40. SHUT. IT. DOWN.

    Washington Post — High-profile Republicans gain followers in first weeks of Musk’s reign (11/27/2022):

    “High-profile Republican members of Congress gained tens of thousands of Twitter followers in the first few weeks of Elon Musk’s reign over the social media network, while their Democratic counterparts experienced a decline, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.”

    SHUT. IT. DOWN.

    “Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) all lost about 100,000 Twitter followers in the first three weeks of Musk’s ownership of Twitter, while Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) gained more than 300,000 each.”

    SHUT. IT. DOWN.

    “The right wing and conservatives for years have accused Twitter of censorship with no proof. Many have cheered Musk’s takeover, saying it’s a reason to return to the site.”

    https://archive.ph/kFsUc

    Reminder: Jonathan Greenblatt does not hold elected office. He is not in an appointed position that required approval from Congress.

    He is a leftover from the King Obama administration who has zero legal or legislative or prosecutorial authority over anything.

    He is not the Language Police™ and any alleged authority he thinks he has is nothing more than a delusion.

    1. The Guardian — Elon Musk’s Twitter is fast proving that free speech at all costs is a dangerous fantasy (11/28/2022):

      “Free speech absolutists are like the cocky audience of a spectator sport – they think they could do better than the players, if they were just allowed a crack at it. To them, speech should be as free as possible, period. Nowhere is their oversimplification of the issue more evident than on social media, where abuse and disinformation have created a new frontier of regulation – and with it a cohort of disingenuous free speech warriors.”

      Did you know that you will find more truth spoken by anonymous posters on 4chan than you ever will in the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post?

      “These absolutists are so unaccustomed to facing consequences for their actions that they have pushed the idea that a censoring “woke” orthodoxy now prevails, and is a threat to freedom of expression. Elon Musk is among them, but since his takeover of Twitter he is having to learn quickly that free speech is not simply about saying whatever you want, unchecked, but about negotiating complicated compromises.”

      SHUT. IT. DOWN.

      “Twitter is about to turn into a far more unpleasant and potentially dangerous experience. Little of this appears to have anything to do with a political strategy on Musk’s part. Like Trump, Musk has become the tribune of fascists and racists by way of adolescent contrarianism, an insatiable need to flaunt his control and a radicalising inability to cope with being told he’s wrong on the internet.”

      SHUT. IT. DOWN.

      “The ultimate cause of that demise will be the failure of Musk to understand that for some speech to be free, other speech has to be limited.”

      SHUT. IT. DOWN.

      “Those with power have more leeway to define what free speech is, but they can rarely do so without limitation. Twitter’s chance of survival is dependent on whether Musk chooses to accept that, like freedom of speech, his power is not absolute.”

      https://archive.ph/YCm2t

      Freedom of speech?

      The 2020 election was stolen.
      COVID vaccines are poison.
      There are only two genders.

      1. New York Post — The left throws a tantrum as Elon Musk reverses censorship on Twitter (11/27/2022):

        “instead of applauding Twitter’s dedication to child safety and attack on degeneracy, leftist media has been decrying Musk’s attempts to restore free speech protections as if they are a threat to civilization.”

        Degeneracy? Degeneracy is a critical component of Marxism. It is the bedrock, the foundation of Marxism.

        “They are hopping mad that Musk is demolishing the left-wing censorship regime that saw a sitting president de-platformed, satirical site The Babylon Bee banned and the oldest newspaper in the country locked out of its account for two weeks before the 2020 election.”

        The Hunter Biden laptop that Jack Dorsey’s Twitter blocked publication of contains photos of Hunter Biden naked in the same room with his niece Natalie Biden, who was 14 years old at the time.

        “Lamenting the explosion of free speech under Musk, Yoel Roth, the former head of “Trust and Safety” who was responsible for censoring The Post, delivered an implied threat to his former employer in an op-ed piece in The New York Times.”

        SHUT. IT. DOWN.

        “Keep the censorship regime in place or Twitter will be thrown off Google and Apple’s app marketplace, he wrote, “making it more difficult for potential billions of users to obtain Twitter services. This gives Apple and Google enormous power to shape the decisions Twitter makes.”

        SHUT. IT. DOWN.

        “Roth claims he just wants to prevent “hate speech,” but why was it that everyone banned by Twitter was conservative?

        “Correct,” Musk replied to a tweet observing: “We don’t hear much about Democrats and leftists being let back on Twitter [because] they were never kicked off in the first place . . . Censorship has been deployed as a one-way operation against conservatives.”

        Which raises the question a a lot of people on Twitter have been asking of Roth, the former head of “Trust and Safety”, after he, too, quit the company in protest. 

        Why was child porn permitted on Roth’s watch for years and all but eliminated by Musk in a few days? It’s an important question, but the rest of the media is more interested in amplifying his threats against Twitter.

        https://nypost.com/2022/11/27/the-left-throws-a-tantrum-as-elon-musk-reverses-censorship-on-twitter/

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

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