thehousingbubble@gmail.com
Blog

An Asset Which Produces Nothing

A report from KTNV in Nevada. “Some Las Vegas sellers are getting creative to get more offers. Zoom in towards the area of St. Rose Parkway and I-15 and you’ll find a home listed for only one dollar. ‘It is not a mistake,’ says local agent Lana Boley, ‘You basically have to talk to the listing agent and see what’s the highest you could do for that home.’ She says this is a creative strategy, and showed clients the home recently. ‘Sometimes people just need to move to another state, or they have a different situation, and they don’t want to wait for an offer,’ Boley said. ‘So if they would like to sell it fast, they could list it for $1, or really really low, so they could receive several offers and choose the best one.'”

“Boley is also selling a similar home blocks away listed at around $335,000. She says the house has been on the market for a few months and the price has recently dropped. She says it’s a changing market. ‘There are a lot of opportunities, especially for the first-time homebuyers,’ Boley said. A dollar listing could catch the eye of some, Boley says, because it’s different, even though it will hopefully sell closer to market value. ‘I like it, try different strategies if it is not working, try something new.'”

ABC 15 in Arizona. “Fewer people are looking and properties are staying on the market longer, according to Mesa associate real estate broker Monie Wilder. ‘Now you have the opportunity to negotiate, and to create a plan and a deal that really works for you and your family,’ she said. Another option is target flips. ‘Most of the time, when something’s newly remodeled, it’s somebody who’s flipping it. Which means that they didn’t plan to own this house for very long and now they must sell it,’ she said.”

“The need to sell could mean a significantly lower price on the buy. According to Wilder, ‘that big price decrease automatically helps almost mitigate the interest rate increase.’ Which is what happened to Xiques and Lowell. Their home was flipped and originally listed at $400,000 which was out of their price range. They paid $339,000. ‘Plus, the sellers bought down the rate, plus they’re paying for our new laundry room and closing costs,’ Lowell said.”

The Marina Times in California. “Matt Fuller, a past president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors, summed it up this way when describing the vibe in real estate today: ‘Everyone knows something is happening, and absolutely no one knows what that is. Inventory. Interest Rates. Layoffs. Remote work. Empty downtown. State housing elements. Supervisors.’ He added with a smile, ‘Destination unknown, full speed ahead!'”

“Ted Andersen of the San Francisco Business Times said in a November article that some of San Francisco’s most recent condo developments still have many unsold units after sales failed to tick up during the third quarter — a time when inventory and sales expectations rise each year. ‘While large downtown condo towers such as the 392-unit Mira (280 Spear Street) and the 298-unit Harrison (401 Harrison Street) have filled up, others have fallen far short,’ he wrote. ‘For example, the Serif at 960 Market Street, delivered last year, has only sold just over 50 of its 252 units. Likewise, One Steuart Lane has sold 40 of its 120 units.'”

The Mercury News in California. “A San Jose office building seized through foreclosure in 2021 is in default on its loan — again — following two aborted efforts to develop housing on the building’s choice site near the city’s mega malls. The office building is located at 826 N. Winchester Blvd. in San Jose. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak nearly three years ago, the building has had a trio of owners and faced two foreclosure proceedings. Now, the current lender on the site is pushing forward with plans to auction the property before the end of this year. Two of the recent owners of the property envisioned the 0.6-acre as a site where housing development could occur.”

From Bloomberg. “A Chinese developer of beleaguered projects across the US has found a potential buyer for a stalled Los Angeles complex where it spent $1.2 billion before running out of money. Oceanwide said it plans to use part of the proceeds to repay debt on its Shanghai properties, which are currently in receivership. The company faces $220 million in lawsuit liabilities on the LA project, where a partially built three-tower hotel and residential complex has been in limbo for years, according to a September filing.”

“US commercial real estate faces tough headwinds as higher borrowing costs slow deal-making and drive down building values. The largest office landlord in downtown Los Angeles, a unit of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., warned last month that it may not be able to refinance debt on its buildings. Since the pandemic, the city has suffered from a reputation for rising crime and rampant homelessness that deters investors, according to Lewis Horne, president of the Southern California district of CBRE Group Inc. ‘In downtown Los Angeles, there’s a very negative narrative going on right now,’ Horne said.”

“After spending $3.5 billion on US projects, Oceanwide has battled to recoup its overseas outlays and revive its Mainland China operations. Lenders last year seized a San Francisco project, where Oceanwide spent $1.3 billion. In November, the company said it found a buyer for some of its holdings in Hawaii for $95 million. Meanwhile, Oceanwide is in talks to extend a forbearance agreement on a New York tower where it invested $410 million, according to Friday’s filing.”

The New York Post. “Bank of America is demanding a Brooklyn judge force Public Advocate Jumaane Williams to pay up on the more than $600,000 he owes on a Brooklyn rental property, or put the property on the auction block, according to the latest filings in a years-long foreclosure battle. Williams’ multi-family Canarsie home has been in foreclosure since 2014 and Bank of America is seeking $622,545 in principal and interest payments, court papers show.”

“Williams — a Democrat who is supposed to be the people’s watchdog as a public advocate — has also shirked other fees on the property. ‘He was an a–hole. He was never there. He just come to collect the rent and that’s it,’ Andre Thompson, who lived in the house from 2009 to 2012, previously told The Post. ‘If it breaks, you gotta fix it. He won’t come or send no one.’ Thompson said the situation ultimately got so bad, he stopped paying rent, forcing Williams to initiate eviction proceedings in December 2010.”

Axios on Minnesota. “Owners of some of the most expensive office towers in the Twin Cities are choosing to walk away from their properties instead of continuing to make loan payments. The 30-story LaSalle Plaza in downtown Minneapolis is scheduled to go to auction next week after the previous owner, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois, avoided foreclosure by transferring the building to its lender, Northwest Mutual.”

“Nearby Fifth Street Towers is facing the same fate and may also go back to its lender this month, according to Axios’ sources who were not authorized to discuss the matter. Real estate experts predict more distressed office properties will follow suit, in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the suburbs. ‘Anytime commercial values plunge downtown it’s bad news for people who pay apartment taxes and homeowner taxes,’ Steve Brandt, a member of the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation, told Axios.”

The Business Times in Colorado. “Real estate activity continues to slow in Mesa County. The story of the local market has changed, said Robert Bray, as mortgage interest rates and residential inventories have reversed roles. In nearly doubling, interest rates have gone from hero to villain. What were low inventories have nearly doubled, becoming something of a hero in offering more selection. ‘Those two characters have switched places,’ said Bray, chief executive officer of Bray & Co. Real Estate in Grand Junction.”

“Annette Young, administrative coordinator at Heritage Title Co. in Grand Junction, said there’s still an unfilled need for housing. But until interest rates and prices moderate, sales will slow. ‘The demand is still there, though. But, obviously, it’s got to be affordable.’ Property foreclosure activity continues to increase, Young said. Through 11 month of 2022, 226 foreclosure filings and 44 sales were reported. That contrasts with 25 filings and 18 sales for the same span in 2021. Foreclosure activity could increase further as more loans come out of forbearance, but Young said she doesn’t consider the numbers alarming.”

Global News in Canada. “The number of houses sold in Waterloo Region continued to decline in November despite prices that continue to spiral downward. The realtors’ monthly report says that on average, a home sold for $736,024, which is a 3.6 per cent decrease from October, when the average home sold for $752,421. We are now well below the high-water mark established in February when the average sale price of a home in Kitchener-Waterloo was $1,007,109. Similarly, the average price of detached homes is also dropping in the area as it fell to $838,609, which is down 13.1 per cent from a month earlier, when that price was $860,568.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Central bankers must be feeling punch-drunk. For years, they strode like superheroes. We praised their genius, bestowed them with titles such as ‘maestro’ – as one journalist labelled Alan Greenspan in a now-infamous encomium – and revelled in the New Jerusalem to which they’d delivered us: a Promised Land of low inflation and endless credit, where all we had to do to get rich was buy a house and watch it grow.”

“But then, almost overnight, the story changed. Central bankers turned into villains – architects of soaring inflation, punishing mortgage costs, plunging house values and the inevitable advance toward recession. Unifor chief Lana Payne, leader of Canada’s largest private-sector union, recently charged that, by raising interest rates, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem ‘has basically declared class war on working people.'”

“Ouch. As a long-standing critic of the bank, I partly agree with Ms. Payne. But I’m also experiencing an odd sensation – sympathy for the alleged devil of this drama. Mr. Macklem is doing the right thing in raising interest rates. Actually, the bank should have done it long ago. That it didn’t, ironically, is because it was previously engaged in an actual class war.”

“It started after the 2008 Great Financial Crisis. During that frenzied time, as asset markets collapsed, the bank cut interest rates to near-zero and turned real rates negative. It justified the action by saying, first, it had to prevent a collapse of the financial system and, second, it wanted to spur an economic recovery. The ultimate effect was that it made the rich richer and the poor poorer.”

“Just why central banks should feel the need to underwrite asset values is itself an interesting question. Nevertheless, the justification of preventing collapse did at least make sense in the context of the crisis. The justification of spurring recovering, on the other hand, always looked flimsy. After the 2008 crisis, for various reasons, investment flowed heavily into real estate, an asset which, as I can’t repeat often enough, produces nothing.”

“Nothing, that is, but a wealth effect. Property owners who felt flush spent a part of their windfall, raising demand. But all the while, owing to that sluggish business investment, the underlying growth of labour productivity kept declining and output rose but slowly. This was bound to eventually boost inflation. Indeed, by the middle years of the last decade, pressures were building.”

“But the central bank largely waved them off. It said that whatever inflation there was, it wasn’t yet affecting consumer prices, the only inflation which mattered to it. Now think about that. If you’re a young graduate entering a job market where real wages are moribund because productivity growth is so poor, but your rent is rising by double-digits each year, someone telling you that inflation doesn’t matter might seem at best insensitive, at worst hostile.”

“Or even, you might say, a bit like a class warrior. With the bank’s loose monetary policy effectively transferring money from workers to owners, in this case the owners of the houses workers had to buy or rent, it would seem to have been taxing the poor to feed the rich. Inevitably, though, inflation in asset markets did work its way into consumer prices, forcing the bank to abandon its war to make the world safe for wealth. But while everyone is feeling the pain, it’s actually owners who are taking the biggest hit.”

“Asset prices are falling a good deal harder than wages. That will hurt owners most, including pensioners – not so much the unionized workers. There is indeed a class war that the Bank of Canada has been waging. But raising interest rates isn’t it.”

Related Posts
This Post Has 129 Comments

  1. Lots of foreclosures and walking away out there in red hotcakes land.

    ‘Sometimes people just need to move to another state, or they have a different situation, and they don’t want to wait for an offer’

    Got it Lana, they’re screwed so stick it to em. I’ll offer tree fiddy.

    1. ‘So if they would like to sell it fast, they could list it for $1, or really really low, so they could receive several offers and choose the best one.’

      It’s called a no-reserve auction. Most sellers would probably rather to avoid this strategy in a down market, where there may be no buyer willing to offer what the seller either needs to pay off his mortgage or believes the home to be worth. However, it’s a good way to start a bidding war.

  2. ‘Property foreclosure activity continues to increase, Young said. Through 11 month of 2022, 226 foreclosure filings and 44 sales were reported. That contrasts with 25 filings and 18 sales for the same span in 2021. Foreclosure activity could increase further as more loans come out of forbearance, but Young said she doesn’t consider the numbers alarming’

    I’m with you on that Annette. Firstly, this place is probably a sh$thole but I’ll never know cuz I’ll never go there. Secondly, foreclosures are a good thing!

      2. This Grand Junction piece could have been greatly helped by looking at the median income of a young family’s breadwinner with a functional 4-yr college degree and 5-yrs on the job.

  3. ‘sold for $736,024, which is a 3.6 per cent decrease from October, when the average home sold for $752,421. We are now well below the high-water mark established in February when the average sale price of a home in Kitchener-Waterloo was $1,007,109. Similarly, the average price of detached homes is also dropping in the area as it fell to $838,609, which is down 13.1 per cent from a month earlier’

    Those are some mighty MOM price craters. It’s almost like those spring numbers were an illusion. It’s a good thing everybody put 40 or 50% down!

    1. ‘sold for $736,024, which is a 3.6 per cent decrease from October, when the average home sold for $752,421. We are now well below the high-water mark established in February when the average sale price of a home in Kitchener-Waterloo was $1,007,109.’

      Funny they were able to calculate the one month price decline but not total decline from the peak:

      1- $736,024/$1,007,109 = 26.9 percent down so far

    2. ‘…down 13.1 per cent from a month earlier’

      The annualized rate of price decline is
      1-(1-0.131)^12 = 81.5%.

      Is that alot?

  4. A reader sent these in:

    John Wake

    Here’s an extreme example of the changes to the Arizona real estate market this year. Arizona City is small town out in the middle of nowhere about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson.
    Arizona City, AZ
    Single-Family Houses for Sale
    May 22, 2021 = 11
    May 21, 2022 = 94

    https://twitter.com/JohnWake/status/1599129032477782017

    “The periods of easy money coincide with the periods of great speculative bubbles.” – Edward Chancellor

    https://twitter.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1599096059590238209

    Next FOMC meeting starts in just 10 days

    https://twitter.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1599137957851860992

    CarDealershipGuy

    So basically, no one can afford to finance cars anymore 😵‍💫 Carvana’s auto financing volume fell *24%* in Oct and marked the 6th straight month of declines.

    https://twitter.com/GuyDealership/status/1599154078789033984

    The Kobeissi Letter

    After losing $10 billion in customer funds and donating over $100 million in customer funds to politicians, SBF is on a full media tour. He’s literally on a Twitter Space right now. SBF is on a Twitter Space after committing the largest fraud in history. What is happening…

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1598446213761847317

    The Kobeissi Letter

    If you bought a house in 2000 for $500K and it’s worth $870K today, you broke even after inflation. Further, if this house is worth $1.3 million today and you adjust for housing price inflation, you broke even. Housing inflation has been near double the overall inflation rate.

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1599056831233433601

    Lance Lambert

    Housing chart of the day. 🏡📊 On a year-over-year basis, U.S. home prices are up 10.7%. That’s decelerated from a 20.8% YoY pace in March. The reason? U.S. home prices, as measured by Case -Shiller, fell 2.2% between June and Sept. Those are the first MoM declines since 2012.

    https://twitter.com/NewsLambert/status/1599191820155559937

    John Wake

    This Guardian piece on renting in London got 750 comments in one day.

    https://twitter.com/JohnWake/status/1599179722885574657

    This is China’s largest isolation camp under construction… in the densely populated Guangzhou area… 🧐 It has 246,407 beds… China is becoming a giant prison on a scale that the world has never seen before… why?

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1599232143275675648

    CHINA: This is at the Shanghai train station. People need to take a PCR test to get out. Otherwise their QR code will automatically turn to yellow and they can’t access to super markets, restaurants, hotels, transport … ⚠️⚠️⚠️ 🔊sound …🧐

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1599154006445608960

    Glad you responded saw you deleted tweets, DR Horton canceling land contracts losing 34 mill. This is a lot inventory on land back to that market. New build inventory at 8.9 months. This is worse demand then actual SFR. Barry Sternlicht above, I guess not yet I will be back

    https://twitter.com/CavigliaVince/status/1599172322266853377

    I know it’s not going to be like 2008, buuut….places like Maricopa and Arizona City are starting too look like 2008.

    https://twitter.com/holden_bukowski/status/1599138914249605121

    The housing bubble is beginning to burst

    https://twitter.com/Mayhem4Markets/status/1599161900537090048

    Kira Mason
    @kmasonrealtor
    Moody’s latest home price forecast puts the Philly metro at -5%. As of today, prices in Philly are still near peak, though what I’m seeing in the market every day tells a different story.

    https://twitter.com/kmasonrealtor/status/1599198315480244224

    New York’s ‘zombie’ office towers teeter as interest rates rise ⁦@FT
    ⁩ #CMBS

    https://twitter.com/danjmcnamara/status/1599118773381906432

    The Used Car Bubble is bursting…

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1599055868552654849

    In a crisis, one layer at a time is crushed, starting with the top. Garbage companies are down 85-90%, anything that is still unprofitable will be bankrupt within a year. Real estate is next, very rate sensitive.

    https://twitter.com/IDKFA3/status/1599039696814104578

    Nature is healing
    @NipseyHoussle

    https://zillow.com/homedetails/312-W-Bridge-St-Weatherford-TX-76086/230793625_zpid/

    $550k original list
    $469k pending before relisting
    $354k current listing after 4 months on the market

    https://twitter.com/WonkyWombat32/status/1599129960899555328

    1. ‘places like Maricopa and Arizona City are starting too look like 2008’

      Except for the prices, which are 50-100% higher than 2008.

      The last link:

      $354,000 3 bd 2ba 3,080 sqft
      Price cut: $25K (11/29)
      312 W Bridge St, Weatherford, TX 76086

      https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/312-W-Bridge-St-Weatherford-TX-76086/230793625_zpid/

      Date Event Price
      11/29/2022 Price change $354,000 (-6.6%) $115/sqft

      11/17/2022 Price change $379,000 (-2.6%) $123/sqft

      11/11/2022 Price change $389,000 (-2.5%) $126/sqft

      11/4/2022 Price change $399,000 (-11.1%) $130/sqft

      10/29/2022 Price change $449,000 (-4.3%) $146/sqft

      10/28/2022 Listed for sale $469,000 $152/sqft

      10/24/2022 Contingent $469,000 $152/sqft

      10/22/2022 Price change $469,000 (-4.1%) $152/sqft

      10/11/2022 Price change $489,000 (-3.9%) $159/sqft

      9/28/2022 Price change $509,000 (-7.5%) $165/sqft

      9/13/2022 Listed for sale $550,000 $179/sqft

      Year built: 1917

      This would put it in the arts and craft era. Must have been a wealthy family that had this built. But still, half a million in Weatherford is bat sh$t crazy.

      1. The pictures are impressive. It’s a beautiful house (3000 sq ft) It’s clearly been redone at some point. But wow someone wants out BAD. 550k to 360k in 4 months is impressive trying to get ahead of the market. Listing says county has it at like 250k.

      2. “half a million in Weatherford is bat sh$t crazy.”

        Half a million anywhere in the country is bat sh$t crazy and the only way that transacts for more than construction cost($50 square foot) is appraisal fraud.

        Holliston, MA Housing Prices Crater 21% As Appraisal And Mortgage Fraud Ravages New England Housing Market

        https://www.movoto.com/ma/01746/market-trends/

    2. “This is China’s largest isolation camp under construction”

      They also built these (not as large) in the Northern Territory of Australia. It’s what Schwab wants for all of The West when he praises China as a model.

      1. Every globalist Quisling wants what Klaus wants. Including the Neo-Bolsheviks of the Democratic Party.

  6. She says it’s a changing market. ‘There are a lot of opportunities, especially for the first-time homebuyers,’ Boley said.

    An opportunity to catch a falling knife. No thanks.

  7. Now you have the opportunity to negotiate, and to create a plan and a deal that really works for you and your family,’ she said.

    Or you could just sit tight and wait for the carnage to play out.

  8. ‘Everyone knows something is happening, and absolutely no one knows what that is.

    We at the HBB know you are lying, Matt, but please continue.

    1. “Inventory. Interest Rates. Layoffs. Remote work. Empty downtown. State housing elements. Supervisors.’ He added with a smile, ‘Destination unknown, full speed ahead!”

      The Beatles knew what was going on: “If you walk down the street we’ll tax your feet!” —Taxman

      George Harrison wrote “Taxman” at a time when the Beatles discovered they were in a financially precarious position. In April 1966, a report from the London accountancy firm Bryce, Hammer, Isherwood & Co. advised them that despite the group’s immense success, “Two of you are close to being bankrupt, and the other two could soon be.”

  9. ‘In downtown Los Angeles, there’s a very negative narrative going on right now,’ Horne said.”

    Democrat-Bolshevik malgovernance isn’t confined to downtown LA. The entire state is sinking into dystopia. Any person who can read the writing on the wall would take a hard pass on “investing” in real estate in commie-controlled blue states and cities.

  10. The 30-story LaSalle Plaza in downtown Minneapolis is scheduled to go to auction next week after the previous owner, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois, avoided foreclosure by transferring the building to its lender, Northwest Mutual.”

    It’s going to be poetic justice when the Comrades of Proven Worth (D) who spent their careers destroying our public education system while inculcating the special snowflakes in Marxist ideology find out their pension funds got looted by their fellow globalists.

    1. “…the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois…”

      I imagine the teachers have a “guaranteed pension plan,” so taxes would be increased to cover the shortfall.

  11. “A retreat in U.S. house prices will extend into next year, although the expected 12% peak-to-trough drop predicted by analysts polled by Reuters would be just about one-third as severe as the last market correction 15 years ago.”
    “Such a modest fall after a 40% rise in average house prices over the last two years based in part on a surge in demand for more space during the COVID-19 pandemic will not be enough to make housing affordable, analysts said.”

    https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/housing-market-correction/2022/12/02/id/1098885/?ns_mail_uid=76653278-342f-4e79-9c9e-de4e85bf0bbd&ns_mail_job=DM407315_12032022&s=acs&dkt_nbr=0101020ns7ll

    I’m holding out for 20%.

    1. Nah, hold out for way more….

      ‘So if they would like to sell it fast, they could list it for $1, or really really low, so they could receive several offers and choose the best one.’”

      It took a lot longer in the last bust for this kind of desperation to set in. This is gonna be way worse.

    2. “Their home was flipped and originally listed at $400,000 which was out of their price range. They paid $339,000. ‘Plus, the sellers bought down the rate, plus they’re paying for our new laundry room and closing costs,’ Lowell said.”

      And there you go. Add all that up and you got yourself about a 100k haircut. 25% decrease and we’re not out of the first inning!

    3. “Such a modest fall after a 40% rise in average house prices over the last two years based in part on a surge in demand for more space during the COVID-19 pandemic will not be enough to make housing affordable, analysts said.”

      It only takes a 28.6% drop to erase a 40% gain. With high inflation, the required price decline is even smaller in real dollar terms.

  13. “Central bankers must be feeling punch-drunk. For years, they strode like superheroes. We praised their genius, bestowed them with titles such as ‘maestro’ – as one journalist labelled Alan Greenspan in a now-infamous encomium – and revelled in the New Jerusalem to which they’d delivered us: a Promised Land of low inflation and endless credit, where all we had to do to get rich was buy a house and watch it grow.”

    The craven globalist salad-tossers at the controlled media propaganda outlets might’ve “praised their genius,” but there were plenty of us who were on to these Keynesian fraudsters and their fiat currency fraud from Day One.

  14. Netherlands Police Use Heavy Machinery to Overturn Tractors with Farmers INSIDE

    by Jamie White
    December 3rd 2022, 1:24 pm

    Protesters also shown being grabbed and dragged into unmarked black vans in scenes comparable to Communist China’s brutal crackdowns.

    Eva Vlaardingerbroek

    🇳🇱 The Dutch farmers have started protesting again today and were immediately hunted down and disbanded by the police and riot squads.

    This is what ‘liberal democracy’ looks like under prime minister Mark Rutte.

    Democracy in action!

    The Dutch farmers have for months been leveraging their tractors and equipment to protest the country’s climate policies that include shutting down thousands of farms to reduce nitrogen emissions and livestock quotas in the name of fighting climate change.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/shock-video-netherlands-police-use-heavy-machinery-to-overturn-tractors-with-farmers-inside/

    1. From Another Brick in the Wall with 1 word change.

      ‘Wrong, Do it again!’

      ‘If you don’t eat yer bugs, you can’t have any pudding. How can you
      have any pudding if you don’t eat yer bugs?’

      ‘You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!’

      Reasons Why Netherlands is World’s 2nd Largest Food Exporter

      January 12, 2022

      INTRODUCTION

      Netherlands has became the 2nd largest food producer on Earth with respect to sustainable agriculture. The industry of Netherlands is mainly centered on the production of the food, petroleum and chemical, electrical machinery. Netherlands has the 6th largest economy in the European Union mainly because of good industrial relations, continuously high trade surplus and lesser unemployment rate. This leads to Netherlands enjoying a premium position as the European transportation hub. Mostly the agriculture sector in the Netherlands is mechanized and computerized therefore only 2 % of the labor force is being employed but still large surplus food is produced. This effort has led to Netherlands becoming the worlds 2nd largest food producer and agriculture exporter.

      Agricultural technology

      The main reason could be for standing at the 2nd position is the fertile soil and flat soil Netherlands enjoys. The temperature and climatic conditions are moderate for farming environment. Therefore, the crops growth, growth of plants and rearing livestock and poultry is done at utmost ease and effectiveness. The people of Netherlands have become highly dependent on the latest agriculture technology. They employ latest robots to pick up fruits, have automated meat processors and separators, robots are used for vegetable processing. The main focus is still on sustainable farming keeping in mind the environmental and social responsibility.

      https://www.envpk.com/reasons-why-netherlands-is-world-2nd-largest-food-exporter/

      1. From what I have read their gooberment wants to close 1/3 of the farms, because “reasons”. This is happening in other countries as well. I suppose that when there are engineered food shortages that “eat the bugs” will be a matter of survival.

        I stepped into the supermarket yesterday. There were almost no eggs to be had, just a handful of the super pricey “organic, free range” stuff. The warehouse club was completely sold out of eggs.

        1. We have plenty of eggs here, but they are $4.39/doz. Not that long ago they were $2 and every other week close to $1.

          Maybe it is just here, but 18 eggs are more expensive per egg than one dozen. Consistently.

          1. I stock up when they have them. The warehouse club (when it has them) has 60 “free range” eggs for $13, about ~$2.50 a dozen, or at least they were last time. Probably will be $16 next time I buy some.

          2. Maybe it is just here, but 18 eggs are more expensive per egg than one dozen. Consistently.”

            2 people I talked to this week, one in Arizona and one here where I live in Region IV both complained about the price of eggs.

          3. Avian flu? That was the explanation for Thanksgiving turkey shortages and the Zoo’s birds off exhibit.

          4. Wow. Aldi had them for around $2.25/dozen here last week. Before everyone lost their minds we could regularly get a dozen for around 38 cents. We used to complain when the price would get up to 50 cents. This was 2019. Aldi is known for underpricing some of the common groceries to get your attention but they aren’t known for losing money so it gives you a pretty good idea of where the market is at any given time.

        2. “There were almost no eggs to be had, just a handful of the super pricey “organic, free range” stuff.”

          That’s all my wife will eat, and the container better be biodegradable too!

    3. Protesters also shown being grabbed and dragged into unmarked black vans

      Disarmed protestors.

      Protesting doesn’t work. The Satanists running the countries simply don’t care. There is only one way out of this mess, and it’s ugly.

        1. There’s a picture making the rounds of a Fellows Powershred with a sign on front that says, “Ballot Drop Box.”

      2. That’s been clear from the beginning but some people it takes a little longer.

        TINVOWOOT

        We’re down to the last box.

  15. Most peculiar, mama.

    Strange Days! Fed Remittances Due To Treasury Skyrockets As Fed Tightens, Strategic Petroleum Reserve Crashing As M2 Money Growth Dies

    https://confoundedinterest.net/2022/12/04/strange-days-fed-remittances-due-to-treasury-skyrockets-as-fed-tightens-strategic-petroleum-reserve-crashing-as-m2-money-growth-dies/

    We are truly living in Strange Days under Joe Biden. And with Elon Musk’s release of Twitter’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, they call Joe Biden the Sleaze.

    As The Federal Reserve tries to crush Bidenflation, we are seeing Fed Remittances to the US Treasury soaring (white line). At the same time, we see the Biden Administration draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (orange dashed line). And as The Fed tightens, M2 Money growth crashes (green line).

    1. After assisted suicide was legalized in Canada, many severely ill patients have found themselves effectively forced into “voluntary” euthanasia by healthcare costs, or even hospitals just refusing to treat them.

      The Dems are chomping at the bit to bring this here.

      They want you dead and gone.

      1. but hey, their medical care is “free”

        Seriously what did they think was going to happen? They gotta cut costs somehow and still collect their grift. Happens in every socialized medicine.

        There is no one coming to save you.

        Ain’t nothing more expensive than that which is free.

  18. Uncle Warren has good news: Forget about your Everything Bubble bursting. A massive bull market is on the way!

    2. The Motley Fool
      A Bull Market Is Coming. Here’s Warren Buffett’s Investing Advice
      By Katie Brockman – Dec 3, 2022 at 8:15AM
      Key Points

      The stock market has been shaky all year, worrying many investors.
      However, history gives us plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
      Warren Buffett’s strategy can help maximize your earnings.

      This year hasn’t been easy for investors. Between surging inflation, a bear market, and the constant threat of a recession, it’s easy to feel discouraged about the future.

      But there is good news. Every single bear market and recession in history — no matter how severe — has eventually given way to a bull market. While nobody can predict exactly how long this market slump will last, we do know a bull market is on the way.

      That may not be reassuring right now, while we’re still in the thick of this downturn. But now is the time to start preparing for the inevitable upswing. Famed investor Warren Buffett knows a thing or two about taking advantage of a bull market, and this is his advice.
      …
      https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/12/03/bull-market-coming-warren-buffett-investing-advice/

    3. From Bank of America to Morgan Stanley, Wall Street giants are expecting stocks to crash more than 20% next year. Here’s what they’ve been saying.
      Zahra Tayeb
      Dec 3, 2022, 2:00 AM
      Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
      Three major Wall Street banks all see the S&P 500 tanking over 20% next year. Andrew Burton/Getty Images

      – Three major Wall Street banks expect the S&P 500 to tank over 20% at some point next year. 

      – US stocks face a recession, cuts to earnings outlooks and liquidity risks as the Fed hikes rates.

      – Here’s what Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank say about what could drag stocks lower.
      …
      https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-crash-2023-outlook-morgan-stanley-bofa-deutsche-bank-2022-12

    4. What should one do when Uncle Warren is predicting blue skies ahead but Megabank, Inc. is issuing storm warnings?

  20. Propaganda and lies.

    Washington Post — From chicken wings to used cars, inflation begins to ease its grip (12/4/2022):

    “After more than a year of high inflation, many consumers are finally starting to catch a break. Even apartment rents and car prices, two items that hammered millions of household budgets this year, are no longer spiraling out of control.”

    https://archive.ph/kqgtU

    From this morning’s C-SPAN Washington Journal, viewers asked to reply if the economy is getting better or worse:

    https://www.c-span.org/video/?524574-2/washington-journal-news-headlines-viewer-calls

    Don at 8m45s into the segment lives on a fixed income at age 75 and discusses $6.50 gas and $4 eggs, rising rent and the prospect of becoming homeless.

    “This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush

    1. The Wall Street Journal
      The Crypto Crisis
      Fallout from FTX
      Fall of Bankman-Fried
      BlockFi Bankruptcy
      Tether Loans
      Caroline Ellison
      A Doomed Empire
      Who’s Who
      What Went Wrong
      SEC’s Strategy

      Clashes Over FTX Bankruptcy Go Global
      Squabbles are erupting around the world over who controls insolvent company’s cash and crypto assets
      Why FTX Picked the Bahamas, and What Happens Now to the Crypto Hub
      By Alexander Osipovich, Alexander Saeedy and Alexander Gladstone
      Dec. 4, 2022 5:30 am ET

      The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has opened a hornet’s nest of squabbles between foreign governments and its new U.S. chief executive, John J. Ray III.

      In Cyprus, the country’s securities regulator is complaining that Mr. Ray’s decision to place FTX in bankruptcy has stymied investigations and is preventing European customers from getting their money back. Officials in the Bahamas, where FTX moved its headquarters last year, are accusing Mr. Ray of making false statements and suggesting that his team is motivated by the prospects of earning hefty legal fees. In Turkey, authorities have seized the assets of FTX’s local subsidiary, an affront to Mr. Ray’s efforts to sweep FTX’s assets into the chapter 11 process in Delaware.

      Such disputes reflect a disconnect between the global aspirations of cryptocurrencies and the hard facts of the law, whose powers often don’t extend beyond a nation’s borders. Proponents say the cross-border nature of crypto makes sending money to someone on the other side of the world as easy as sending an email, and many crypto firms have offered their services to customers all over the world and have established headquarters in offshore jurisdictions. But laws meant to protect customers when things go wrong—and the bankruptcy regime in particular—are deeply tied up with national boundaries, and cross-border cooperation is never a guarantee.

      And no crypto company’s bankruptcy to date has been more global in scope than FTX’s. The company’s initial bankruptcy petition listed more than 130 affiliates in countries ranging from Canada to Ghana to Japan. FTX made around 95% of its revenue outside the U.S., according to financial statements seen by The Wall Street Journal and FTX employees.
      …

    2. The Wall Street Journal
      FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Says He Can’t Account for Billions Sent to Alameda
      Entrepreneur says he had little insight into workings of trading firm even though he owned 90% of it
      Where Did the Missing Money Go? Sam Bankman-Fried Says He Can Only Guess
      FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss what happened to the billions of dollars deposited by the exchange’s customers. This interview has been edited for length.
      By Alexander Osipovich
      Dec. 3, 2022 5:47 pm ET

      NASSAU, Bahamas—FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried said he couldn’t explain what happened to billions of dollars that customers of his failed cryptocurrency exchange sent to the bank accounts of his trading firm, Alameda Research.

      And he said he couldn’t rule out the possibility that money deposited by FTX customers who were told their money was theirs alone was in fact lent to Alameda.

      In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Bankman-Fried distanced himself from Alameda, saying he had stepped back from running the firm and had little insight into its workings even though he owned 90% of it.
      …

      1. You see? This was all just an innocent misunderstanding and failure of risk management. No need for our DoJ or FBI to get involved…file this under “mistakes were made” and let’s all just move along.

    3. Tech
      Crypto peaked a year ago — investors have lost more than $2 trillion since
      Published Fri, Nov 11 2022 7:00 AM EST
      Updated Mon, Nov 14 2022 3:07 AM EST
      Ari Levy
      MacKenzie Sigalos

      Key Points

      – A year after bitcoin peaked at more than $68,000 it’s down below $18,000.

      – The industry has been hit with macroeconomic challenges, market forces and scandals.

      – What was dubbed the crypto winter earlier this year turned disastrous this week with the spectacular collapse of FTX.
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/11/crypto-peaked-in-nov-2021-investors-lost-more-than-2-trillion-since.html

    1. Russia Today, because Russia Today.

      The death of a US mercenary exposes the bleak reality of service with Ukraine’s ‘International Legion’ (12/2/2022):

      “Grim accounts from surviving volunteers are forgotten as Western media favors fantasy narratives about Ukrainian heroism and success”

      Note that the URL for this article link is titled “what did they die for.” They died for a lie. Propaganda and lies.

      “It’s been confirmed that Trent Davis, a 21-year-old US citizen who travelled to Ukraine to fight in the International Legion, has been killed in combat. The tenth American known to have met their end in the conflict, his premature death highlights the enormous dangers facing foreigners joining Kiev’s fight.

      He reportedly travelled to Ukraine in March to join the Georgian Legion, a unit so notorious for executing Russian prisoners of war that even the Western media has been forced to acknowledge its savagery. The foreign mercenaries, however, considered Davis incompetent and insufficiently experienced to take part in hostilities, so he was sent home two months later.

      Davis returned in October, and two weeks later was overjoyed to inform his mother that he had signed a contract and was now officially part of the International Legion, created on 26 February by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky to attract foreign fighters.

      Davis told his mother he would soon be heading out to fight in a counteroffensive in the south of Ukraine. His mother and father never heard from their son again. On 8 November, he was killed on his very first mission, as Ukrainian forces attempted to recapture Kherson.

      The details of how Davis died are murky, although the greatest mystery of all is why he was hired by the International Legion in the first place, let alone sent to the front line on his very first outing. Officially at least, combat experience – which he of course lacked – and a “belief in freedom and democracy” are the basic requirements for enlistment in the unit.”

      Reddit-tier virtue signals don’t win wars. Russia wins wars.

      “While mainstream outlets have completely ignored the corruption, brutality, and abuses that are a daily staple of life on the front line with the International Legion, foreigners who fought with them aren’t silent about the horrors they witnessed first-hand, and have openly discussed their experiences in YouTube interviews and via other mediums.

      Take, for example, a former US marine who fought with the International Legion, who has revealed that Ukrainian commanders don’t have radios, artillery cover or extraction teams for wounded soldiers, and testified to a thriving black market for Western weapons, such as anti-tank missiles.

      He reported that these weapons would be collected in unmarked vans and ferried away to places unknown. In public, Western officials deny that any arms sent to Kiev have ended up on the black market, but the ex-marine claims US officials he encountered acknowledged that “low-level” corruption was endemic. It has, moreover, been confirmed that at least some of this arsenal is circulating in Europe.

      Another former International Legion fighter echoed much of the ex-marine’s reports, alleging that NATO anti-aircraft guns constantly disappeared from his unit’s armory within days of arrival, but the Ukrainian Security Service, despite knowing about this, did nothing. Commanders who were reported to superiors for their complicity in this criminal activity also went unpunished.

      “Volunteers don’t trust Ukrainian authorities because of how corrupted they are. For so many people war is profitable… It’s hard to find reliable sources where your supplies and equipment can reach the right people,” the former fighter said. “They keep stealing left and right. The problem in Ukraine is that it’s in their culture… Looks like they steal from all levels.”

      https://www.rt.com/news/567486-what-did-they-die-for/

      Your United States taxpayer money is paying for all of this.

      “Ever get the feeling that you’ve been cheated?” — Johnny Rotten

    3. So you’re saying that Zelensky (who’s a jew) is banning the church in Ukraine (which is majority (hugely majority) Russian Orthodox). Huh.

      something something every single time

      1. He has closed down certain churches and arrested certain priests on the claim that they are doing funny business with Russians.

  24. “With the bank’s loose monetary policy effectively transferring money from workers to owners, in this case the owners of the houses, workers had to buy or rent, it would seem to have been taxing the poor to feed the rich.”

    Ya think?

    1. I for one am looking forward to some of these “Leaders”, or even one, to go on a full bug diet for six months to show us how beneficial it is.

      The harder the exoskeleton, the better.

  29. A wealthy family in our circle reportedly had their home broken into recently. Unlike ourselves, they live in a gated community.

    It got me to thinking: Although living behind a gate may bring a feeling of security, might it also serve as a magnet for robbers? After all, why bother living in a big house behind a gate if you don’t have lots of cool toys to protect?

    By contrast, anyone who takes a look at the dried up, ill-kept lawn lawn outside our ungated rental property can quickly surmise there isn’t much inside worth stealing.

    1. My college roommates and I were so poor, one night a burglar broke into our apartment, and we robbed him.

      That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

      1. When I was young and single, I once had a music gig where I was in charge of bringing about $30,000 worth of equipment and music (1990 dollars). It was stashed in my apartment while I worked at my day job, at an office about 20 miles away.

        As fate would have it, this was the day some desperado decided to break into my ground floor apartment. When I got back from work, I noticed evidence that the musical instrument cases in my living room had been opened and shut, but none were missing.

        In my bedroom, I found my silver plated piggy bank open, with slightly more than $15 in change missing. To my knowledge, that was the only thing the thief took.

        Lesson learned: Classical stringed instruments are difficult to fence.

    2. A well off relative of mine lived in a “gated community” for a couple of decades. I took walks around on several visits and noticed that the gate was in the front only. The side and back were wide open to minor roads, some of the drives connected to them by unpaved tracks. Once just joking, I said to the guard at the gate “I’m back!” and she opened the gate.

      1. I suspect most gated communities provide a false sense of security through the illusion of impenetrability. In reality, there are many ways in for anyone who is determined, including tailgating someone who knows the access code and following them through the gate.

      2. The illusion of security. At most places with an unmanned gate all you have to do is wait for a car to follow in and no one will question it.

      3. But with the fencing already in place it is easy to call in extra security for special events like the Rodney King beating and Simi Valley jury’s not-guilty verdict.

        1. Good point! I’ve recently heard about a number of home roberries in our nearby gated community, but none of the Covid unrest played out over there.

    3. Friends of ours live in Highlands Ranch, an upscale Denver suburb lousy with high-net-worth libtards. The residents are on edge because of the sharp increase in property crimes courtesy of vibrant incursions from Denver, but probably not one in a hundred of them connects their D vote to the breakdown of law and order in the greater Denver area.

      1. Clearly, they didn’t think the vibrants would stray far from Colfax Ave into their upper middle class nabes. I’m still seeing shacks closing in my neck of the woods and the buyers are mostly people fleeing metro Dumver.

  30. Breaking news from last night in Moore County, North Carolina.

    https://www.thepilot.com/news/ongoing-timeline-county-still-dark-after-substation-attacks-disaster-declaration-expected/article_b3b19780-7370-11ed-865d-c78d0de5d921.html

    https://twitter.com/search?q=%22Moore%20County%22&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

    Blowing up power substations to block a drag queen story hour?

    This incident GLOWS. It glows in the dark.

    But seriously, stop noticing…

    2. All the libtards on Twitter are already blaming “christofascists.” We’re gonna need a bigger gulag.

      1. I think you underestimate how pissed off a lot of people are about kids being exposed to this debauchery.

        Controversial Drag Show Ends Early Following Power Outage

        https://www.thepilot.com/news/controversial-drag-show-ends-early-following-power-outage/article_576fbe72-7355-11ed-9e6c-bf04b3a3e425.html

        The Downtown Divas drag show, which was scheduled for 7 p.m. but did not begin until 7:40 p.m., was scheduled as a fundraiser for Sandhills Pride, the local nonprofit supporting the LGBTQ community. The show originally allowed for children and teenagers to attend, but following angry protests online, the Sunrise and Sandhills Pride announced that only individuals aged 18 and older would be admitted.

        1. Why take down the whole city? Why not just sabotage the area where the pedos were having their show?

      2. There were protesters and counter-protesters in Columbus, Ohio yesterday near a similar event, which included Patriot Front (they show up en masse, in a rented U-Haul, carrying shields and wearing neatly pressed khaki pants) and Proud Boys (known to have been heavily infiltrated by Feds) and the usual Soros-funded blue hairs across the street screeching at them.

        The chatter about the North Carolina targeted infrastructure attack in North Carolina on non-narrative platforms today has certainly been interesting. Who did it? Who benefits? Why now?

        Read it here first on the HBB.

        LOL@ Real Journalists…

  31. Greenland, NH Housing Prices Crater 16% YOY As Rockingham County Housing Market Slips Into A Deep Freeze

    https://www.movoto.com/nh/03840/market-trends/

    As one Southern New Hampshire broker explained, “I tell all the seller lined up at my door to step off the dream weaver train and prepare to slash prices 20% minimum.”

    1. “Karen Croake Heisler: 67-year-old former Notre Dame professor says “damn the unvaccinated,” dead 12 days after third Pfizer mRNA injection”

      Damn!

  35. Maxine Waters Praises Sam Bankman-Fried For His Honesty And Forthrightness

    Chris Menahan | Information Liberation
    December 3rd 2022,

    California Rep Maxine Waters, the Democratic Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, heaped praise on crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried for his “candidness” and “willingness” to “help” his company’s customers and investors.

    “.@SBF_FTX, we appreciate that you’ve been candid in your discussions about what happened at #FTX. Your willingness to talk to the public will help the company’s customers, investors, and others. To that end, we would welcome your participation in our hearing on the 13th,” Waters tweeted Friday.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/maxine-waters-praises-sam-bankman-fried-for-his-honesty-and-forthrightness/

    1. Maxine Waters Praises Sam Bankman-Fried For His Honesty And Forthrightness

      As I said above, they don’t seem to concerned about optics anymore. I can only wonder what’s next. Biden giving medals to pedos for diddling kids?

      1. “I hereby dub thee Online Safety Expert. 🙂”

        Move right in, take what’s not yours because youve bestowed a title on yourself.

        Sound familiar? (realtors)

    1. CNBC Investigations
      Celsius clients with collateral stuck on failed crypto platform turn to bankruptcy process for relief
      Published Sat, Dec 3 2022 8:00 AM EST
      Updated 2 Hours Ago
      Paige Tortorelli
      Kate Rooney

      Key Points

      – After crypto lending platform Celsius paused withdrawals in June and then went bankrupt, borrowers have been unable to get their collateral off the platform.

      – “Every aspect of what they did was wrong,” said Alan Knitowski, who borrowed $375,000 from Celsius by posting $1.5 million worth of bitcoin as collateral.

      – A former director at Celsius told CNBC that the company’s failure to match its assets and liabilities contributed to the hole in its balance sheet.

      Alan Knitowski holds an MBA, has worked in technology and finance for over 25 years and is CEO of a mobile software company that trades on the Nasdaq. That didn’t prevent him from getting duped by a crypto firm.

      Knitowski borrowed $375,000 from crypto lender Celsius over several years and posted $1.5 million in bitcoin as collateral. He didn’t want to sell his bitcoin because he liked it as an investment and believed the price would go up.

      That was the Celsius model. Cryptocurrency investors could essentially store their holdings with the firm in exchange for a loan in dollars that they could put to use. Knitowski would get the bitcoin back when he repaid the loan.

      But that’s not what happened, because Celsius, which earlier in the year managed $12 billion in assets, spiraled into bankruptcy in July after a plunge in crypto prices caused an industrywide liquidity crisis. Knitowski and thousands of other loan holders had more than $812 million in collateral locked on the platform, and bankruptcy records show Celsius failed to return collateral to borrowers even after they repaid their loans.

      “Every aspect of what they did was wrong,” Knitowski, who runs an Austin, Texas-based company called Phunware, said in an interview. “If my CFO or I actually did anything that looked like this, we would immediately be charged.”
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/03/celsius-users-with-crypto-collateral-stuck-turn-to-bankruptcy-process.html

  41. Florida Man Arrested Allegedly Trying to Rob Walmart on ‘Shop with a Cop’ Day

    AWR HAWKINS
    4 Dec 2022

    A 40-year-old Florida man was arrested Thursday as he allegedly tried to rob a Walmart in which nearly 40 sheriff’s deputies were present for “shop with a cop” day.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/12/04/florida-man-arrested-allegedly-trying-to-rob-walmart-on-shop-with-a-cop-day/

    Déjà Vu

    Wrong Diner

    https://youtu.be/_vDA9CIj93c

Comments are closed.