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Speculators Are Now Willing To Accept Losses To Dispose Of Their Units

A report from CBS News. “The following is a transcript of an interview with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon that aired Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. MARGARET BRENNAN: But in this moment we’re in right now – you have mortgage rates -what? About 7%? DIMON: 6 1/2 % yeah. MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, right around there. It’s hard to get access, but the Fed’s also trying to cool off a housing market bubble. DIMON: Yeah. MARGARET BRENNAN: A critic would say a big bad Wall Street bank is loading debt onto poor people. How do you respond to that? Because- DIMON: That’s a fairly ignorant person.”

The Review Journal. “Following last year’s cheap-money-fueled buying frenzy, house hunters have been largely pumping the brakes for months in Southern Nevada. Resale prices have tumbled to their lowest level of the year, sales have plunged from 2021 tallies, and builders have offered more incentives to buyers and higher commissions to agents who bring them in. Las Vegas’ market — with its track record of accelerating, hitting the brakes, and repeating — has been slowing faster than the nation overall in key ways.”

“Sales volume is also shrinking faster here. Among the 50 most populous metro areas in the nation, pending sales recently dropped the most in Las Vegas, falling 65 percent year-over-year in the four weeks ending Nov. 27, according to Redfin. On the resale side, 1,521 houses traded hands in November, down 53.5 percent from the same month last year, trade association Las Vegas Realtors reported. Last month, single-family homes sold for a median price of $430,990, the lowest of the year and down from a record-high $482,000 in May, according to association data.”

From WTOP. “In a span of 12 weeks ending Nov. 20, Redfin reported a record 2% of homes for sale were delisted each week. In the D.C. metro area, Redfin data shows one in 10 homes for sale are eventually delisted. If a home hasn’t found a buyer in about a month, it is considered stale. Even in a normal market, sellers in the slow fall season may take the home off the market and re-list it again in the busy spring market a few months later. If the Federal Reserve continues raising rates, and inflation does not moderate, that might not be a workable strategy.”

“‘The big problem is that we might not have enough demand out there to support sellers coming back. So they might decide to, rather than waiting for spring, wait for another year or two,’ said Taylor Marr, deputy chief economist at Redfin.”

From The Real Deal. “After months of whiplash in residential markets, November brought some welcome stability to new development sales in New York. The contracts were for apartments asking a combined $548.5 million, up nearly 50 percent from October’s total. The median price of the units was $2.4 million, down about 10 percent. As the merely wealthy begin buying again, developers have started to add incentives. The builders of ​​CBSK Ironstate’s 547 West 47th Street are offering two years of waived common charges. Other sweeteners are becoming more common.”

“‘All those things are enough to keep the prices up,’ said Kael Goodman, founder of Marketproof. ‘What we’re not really seeing is the prices coming down in any significant way.’ Still, concessions can only go so far. ‘Discounts are next,’ Goodman said.”

Your Observer in Florida. “Inflation and interest rates are putting downtown market pressure on home sales in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metro area. Earlier this year, the median sold single-family home price in Sarasota topped $500,000. According to realtor.com, the median listing home price is now $535,000 and the median sold home price is $464,000. Meanwhile, the neighboring Punta Gorda area ranks No. 1 among the nation’s small metro areas with a home sales decline of 51.7%, which also ranks first among all metros regardless of size.”

Bisnow San Francisco in California. “Apartment rents in San Francisco are down 10.9% since Q1 2020, the quarter before the bottom fell out of the city’s office market. San Francisco Chief Economist Ted Egan suggested to the San Francisco Business Times that the neighborhoods hit hardest by the rent declines were those that were previously occupied by downtown office workers, noting that units east of Van Ness Avenue or north of Cesar Chavez Street saw larger declines in rent compared to neighborhoods in the western and southern portions of the city.”

KXAN in Texas. “Austin City Council members want to crack down on short-term rentals that aren’t licensed with the city. The city’s code department told KXAN there are about 11,000 short-term rentals in Austin, but only 1,875 are currently licensed. A spokesperson said unlicensed operators could be fined up to $2,000. Laura Martinez is among the relative few who has gotten her rental licensed with the city. She thinks the rule enforcement may help free up Austin homes for longer-term rent or for sale. ‘It’s just like, ‘Okay, they caught up on what we’re doing. So, let’s go somewhere else,’ Martinez said.”

Blog TO in Canada. “A freehold townhouse in Brampton that’s been sold four times over the past three years shows just how much home prices have changed since 2019 in the GTA. The 3+2 bedroom home, located at 8 Pennycross Crescent in Brampton was first sold in July 2019 for $704,000. Just two years later, in September 2021, the townhouse was sold for $1,105,000. The 4-bathroom house was then sold for $1,260,000 in December 2021, before finally being sold for $919,000 this past month. Similar to many other houses in the GTA, the townhouse’s price has varied dramatically over the course of the past few years. In fact, the house has roughly varied up to $500,000 in price from 2019 to 2022.”

“According to a release by the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average price of a house in the GTA was $1,159,763 in October 2021. Just one year later, the average price had declined down to $1,098,502, representing a 5 per cent change. Recent data from the Toronto Region Real Estate Board also shows the average price across all property types was $1,079,398 in November 2022, compared to $1,089,428 in October, decreasing by roughly $10,000.”

From Moneywise. “‘We know that when interest rates rise, housing is the first area of the economy to respond,’ says James Orlando, director at TD Economics. ‘We’ve seen the drop in sales, we’ve seen the decline in prices, it’s been swift.’ According to a recent National Bank of Canada report, it now takes 67.3 per cent of a household income to pay a mortgage on the average home — the highest percentage in 41 years. ‘It’s definitely slowed things,’ says Jeneen Marchant, a realtor with RE/MAX Real Estate in Edmonton. ‘And with each increase, you could see it slow a bit more and a bit more.'”

The Jamaica Observer. “‘The central bank’s benchmark interest rate [that influences all other lending rates] has been pushed up again, now to 7 per cent. This means further dampening of spending power. Rising mortgage rates, with so much residential construction underway, should be, ahm, ‘interesting’,’ said Damien King, a senior economist and former head of the Department of Economics at The University of the West Indies. ‘It raises concerns about the possibility of a property crisis with too many units coming on the market while potential homebuyers are disincentivised by higher mortgage rates.'”

The Phnom Pen Post. “Housing Development Association of Cambodia secretary-general Huy Vanna told The Post on December 5 that, when compared to a year earlier, there were no significant changes in the low numbers of construction projects that broke ground in the July-September quarter, especially when it comes to large foreign-owned projects. ‘On the ground, barely any new projects began construction in the third quarter – work merely progressed on existing developments,’ Vanna said.”

“Global Real Estate Association president Sam Soknoeun remarked that real estate transactions and rentals have been very quiet in the second half of 2022, comparable to 2020-2021. ‘As I see it, the real estate market has not improved in the third and fourth quarters. The sluggishness of the market will linger on,’ he predicted. Soknoeun blamed the declines in construction activity and home transactions seen in recent months to a supply glut as consumers continue to save money.”

The New Straights Times. “The Johor state government will work together with the federal government to study the implementation of the Malaysia My Second Home policy. At the state assembly sitting today, Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the collaboration was to address the glut of unsold luxury homes. Meanwhile Onn Hafiz also said that the Johor government would also establish a special committee to achieve the mission of Zero Slums in Johor by 2035.He said the special committee has been set up to coordinate the relocation of squatters in Johor.”

From Vietnam Express. “Apartment investors and speculators in HCMC are now willing to accept losses of VND500-600 million (US$20,800-25,000), compared to the earlier VND300 million, to dispose of their units. A man who identified himself as only Lu said he has doubled the discount on an apartment he is trying to sell from VND300 million in the third quarter. ‘I have failed to sell the apartment worth VND3 billion over the past year. Now I am willing to accept a loss of VND600 million.’ He noted that the interest rate on a bank loan he took increased recently from 9% to over 13%.”

“Meanwhile, prices of land for townhouses in Thu Duc City have dropped by around 27% since mid-2022. The prices of apartments and land are also plummeting in Districts 7 Binh Chanh, Nha Be, Can Gio and others.”

From Lemonde. “For four decades, real estate development accounted for one-third of China’s gross national product (GNP) growth rate. Over the past 15 years, the construction boom, driven by the expansion of cheap credit, caused housing prices to double on average. By 2019, investor euphoria was at its peak. Real estate’s share of household wealth was now at 70%. The illusion of wealth created by the continuous rise in housing prices encouraged investors to take more risks. Investments became speculative in a market where over 20% of new homes were empty.”

“With this in mind, the accumulation of debt by Evergrande, the country’s largest real estate group, looked more and more like a Ponzi scheme. The group was repaying its debt with advances paid by new clients. In 2021, the accumulation of bad debt in the sector reached €228 billion nationwide, up 18% from 2020. Real estate debt accounted for half of the GNP in 2021, twice the size of Germany’s economy!”

“All the makings of a financial crisis were there. All that was missing was an exogenous shock to trigger it. According to economist Hyman Minsky (1919-1996), famous for his analysis of economic crises, this shock (the ‘Minsky moment’) is generally caused by the intervention of the central bank. But in China’s case, the source of the shock was rather unexpected, since it came directly from the highest level of government.”

“In August 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping decided to put a stop to speculation by imposing the ‘three red lines’ on real estate companies, which limited the debt-to-total-assets ratio, reduced the net debt-to-equity ratio and built up cash reserves. The publication of these three lines marked the tipping point, or the ‘Minsky moment,’ for the market. As for the households that were still solvent, they were no longer interested in making advance payments to real estate developers, because the trust was well and truly broken. By 2022, sales collapsed by 22% and new home prices fell by 1.4%. The debt burden of the real estate sector was increasing and the crisis spread to the entire economy in an environment that was already overburdened by the zero-Covid policy.”

Daily Mail Australia. “Another major builder has joined the growing list of construction companies that have collapsed amid soaring material costs, labour shortages and disruptions. Elderton Homes, based in NSW, announced on Monday it had appointed administrators to manage its operations going forward. The boutique builder said the ‘difficult decision was the result of a number of factors’ citing the bushfires and floods, Covid pandemic and economic downturn.”

“The company is the latest in a long list of construction firms which have folded in the last 12 months including big players like ProBuild and Condev Constructions along with smaller firms such as Hotondo Homes Hobart, New Sensation Homes and Pindan Group. Just last week Queensland-based builder Lanskey Constructions went into liquidation, following fellow Sunshine State firms Oracle Platinum Homes and Besse Construction in August. The collapses across the industry have left hundreds of staff without jobs, thousands of homes incomplete, and customers and subcontractors owed tens of millions of dollars.”

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This Post Has 94 Comments

  1. ‘The big problem is that we might not have enough demand out there to support sellers coming back. So they might decide to, rather than waiting for spring, wait for another year or two’

    But souper bowl Taylor?

    1. I read this quote too and wondered about it. Houses aren’t like beanie babies and you can wait for the market to come back (they are still waiting..) Houses have carrying costs that are considerable. Taxes, couple thousand a year, insurance, couple thousand, and it wears out just sitting there. (and god forbid you rent it, wear goes WAY UP). It’s at least a $1000/month just to sit there without a mortgage and the corresponding interest. How does it make any sense to wait?

      2. It depends on the individual situation. Examples:

        1. People who have to sell immediately: grandma finally died, job loss, divorce, BK, etc. They have no choice but to take a loss.
        2. Retired couple who have no urgency to move. They’re already accustomed to the carrying cost and don’t want to be rushed. They’ll willing to take a chance that the crash will end.
        3. Remote worker who wants to move to dream location. He can wait too.
        4. Downsizing to a cheaper location. In this case it may be better to sell even in a down market, knowing that the loss in selling the bigger house will be made up for by the lower carrying costs in the downsized place. I think this depends a lot on how much equity one has in the house. If you own the house outright, it’s better to take a loss now.

        1. ‘If you own the house outright, it’s better to take a loss now’

          That’s the spirit! Rip the band-aid off.

        2. If you own the house outright, it’s better to take a loss now.

          Seriously? A good financial decision should be avoided if one is deeply in debt? Isn’t that like double doubling down on a bad decision?

          1. Blue, I guess it’s all about timing and interest rates. If Powell pivots quickly and sends mortgage interest rates down to, say, 4%, then prices will uptick pretty fast. In that case, if you have a mortgage it might be better to wait a year and hope that appreciation offsets that year of carrying costs. If you own outright, you already have assets and don’t need to take that gamble.

            But I think a quick upturn is unlikely. I think we’re in for a 3-4 year downturn, in which case it’s better to accept a loss, as long as you don’t have to bring cash to the closing table.

  2. ‘Earlier this year, the median sold single-family home price in Sarasota topped $500,000. According to realtor.com, the median listing home price is now $535,000 and the median sold home price is $464,000’

    Another sh$thole rolls over YOY.

    1. This one too:

      ‘Following last year’s cheap-money-fueled buying frenzy, house hunters have been largely pumping the brakes for months in Southern Nevada. Resale prices have tumbled to their lowest level of the year’

  4. Globalist scum media.

    New York Post — The media’s silence on the ‘Twitter Files’ is shameful (12/11/2022):

    “This has been obvious in their non-coverage of Elon Musk’s Twitter Files, four batches over 10 days so far, which have revealed a chilling censorship regime at the social media giant, which no doubt is replicated across Big Tech, including at Facebook and Google.

    We see evidence of what we long suspected, despite Twitter former CEO Jack Dorsey’s lies to Congress: Conservatives and medical professionals were silenced, as part of a crackdown on effective dissent against the government. From The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop stories and criticism of the Biden administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal to Dr. Fauci’s bogus edicts on masks, lockdowns and the origins of COVID, censorship has been the order of the day. That should be a story of interest to journalists at The Times and WaPo.

    If anything is an existential threat to democracy, it is Big Tech’s assault on free speech, in service to one side of politics and under the instruction of intelligence operatives determined to rig elections against recalcitrant Republicans. In fact, the lead agency tasked with election security, the FBI, is revealed as a prime culprit.”

    https://nypost.com/2022/12/11/medias-silence-on-twitter-files-is-shameful/

    The 2020 election was stolen.

    1. I’m optimistic. Any monopoly can be broken by only ONE better mousetrap, and the left’s monopoly on control of social media will be no different. We’re barely six weeks past “Sink Day” and Elon is already breaking that monopoly. Give it six months and free speech will prevail.

  6. Clutch those pearls harder, globalist sh*tbags.

    HuffPaint — Marjorie Taylor Greene Says ‘We Would’ve Won’ If She Organized The Jan. 6 Attack (12/11/2022):

    “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) suggested the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol would have been successful if she’d been running the show.
    “I want to tell you something. If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, we would’ve been armed,” she said of the Jan. 6, 2021, attempt by supporters of then-President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the New York Post.

    Greene made the comment during a speech filled with “one-liners trolling the political left” at an annual gala hosted by the New York Young Republican Club in Manhattan, the Post reported.

    Republican speakers repeatedly voiced anti-democratic and authoritarian ideology, which received loud cheers from audience members, SPLC reported.”

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marjorie-taylor-greene-won-organized-jan-6-attack_n_6396734de4b0804966adb0b7

    The Southern Poverty Law Center?

    The 2020 election was stolen.

  7. Did anyone watch the interview with Janet Yellen last night on 60 minutes?

    Never heard any substantive.

    Did I miss something?

    2. Did anyone watch the interview with Janet Yellen last night on 60 minutes?

      Why would I ever watch such globalist sh!tbag filth? I remember seeing a clip of Jerome Powell answering softball questions by the same sham outfit. FAKE NEWS.

  9. A reader sent these in:

    “950k mortgage, signed on ~3600, never paid that. First one came out 4000, next one 4400, then 4800, and now 5200.
    So almost 2k more than 6 months ago when we signed the variable rate document.” Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/y833rc/how_much_more_are_you_paying_in_mortgage_now/

    https://twitter.com/GratkeWealth/status/1601983077131374593

    This is surreal. Beloved Toronto major mocks GTA amateur landlords and other #RealEstate bobbleheads. Take a look …

    https://twitter.com/silberschmelzer/status/1601789145638064128

    John Wake

    Phoenix Median House Price Down 4% in 1 Month!
    Latest Arizona Real Estate Notebook.

    https://twitter.com/JohnWake/status/1602023230507692032

    self-storage

    https://twitter.com/NipseyHoussle/status/1602048780366405632

    Rental Housing investor Starlight halts distributions that paid a 4-per-cent annual yield.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1602090209318871040

    Hoomers told us home prices couldn’t go down without mass 20%+ unemployment and 2008-style primary home foreclosures (“forced selling”) But, as HBD foretold, we’re seeing price declines without either of the above

    https://twitter.com/NipseyHoussle/status/1601647959934107650

    The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index has been below 60 for 8 consecutive months, the longest run of extreme negative sentiment that we’ve seen with data going back to 1952. The prior record was 4 straight months during the 1980 recession.

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1601581248324849665

    This only captures a tiny fraction of the layoffs, just the big headline numbers. Tech layoffs? But the unemployment rate is unchanged at 3.7%… Do you believe the govt data?

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1601988629542436869

    Sydney, Australia home prices tumble 12% since Feb 22 since tightening began. Coming to USA ???

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1602011418563411972

    This meme perfectly sums up the allure of the STR rental market to landlords and resulting unaffordable housing crisis of the last two years

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1601631057845301248

    Confluence of macro factors hitting at once in the resort towns
    I tried to tell people it was coming
    Smart hosts are already positioning themselves to fight for survival
    Novice hosts will be blindsided

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1601657406819565568

    5 Trillion in US pandemic economic stimulus
    24 months later, what do we have to show for it?
    — raging inflation
    — record low worker productivity
    — broken housing market
    — personal savings rapidly dwindling
    — weak economic growth (GDP)
    Was it worth it?

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1601941345916313600

    Rate hikes at work.

    https://twitter.com/IDKFA3/status/1601973026018525189

    CRE Loan Shark

    $10B+ Multifamily REIT is going to miss big on revenue forecast for 2022. Q4 has been a disaster for forecasts with rent growth and trade outs way down. Chomp Chomp.

    https://twitter.com/CRE_LoanShark/status/1598738534973681664

    Danielle DiMartino Booth

    Powell will keep tightening “House price growth’s correlation w/OER inflation peaks at ~0.75 after 16 months; correlation w/rent inflation peaks after 18 months…rent inflation will increase ~7% in 2022 & 2023, ~2x pre-pandemic 5-yr avg”

    https://twitter.com/DiMartinoBooth/status/1601965513046999040

    The economics of STR cash flows cover a wide range, but post-pandemic buyers are going to struggle to stay solvent. Same with the new ‘fractional share’ bullsh$t. Prices are coming down hard or the market wont clear.

    https://twitter.com/Stimpyz1/status/1601961307271442433

    and few realtors (many with names like Bunny and Trinkie) are prepared to guide clients and add value when the sh$t hits the fan like this. Which offer is best when closing becomes a crap shoot? Realtor blather is just noise, and 80% of them are worthless even in good markets.

    https://twitter.com/Stimpyz1/status/1601633313193500672

    When labor market remains tight & inflation remains elevated, the result is higher wages. JOB VACANCIES / UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RATIO
    The FED has to raise rates further otherwise inflation will bounce again.

    https://twitter.com/AlessioUrban/status/1601612705835913218

    So true, higher wages >> costs manufacturing up >> inflation up. Most people think peak inflation is in, at this moment true, but watch what gonna happen in Q1 2023. The worst is yet to come🔪

    https://twitter.com/PascalVlijmen/status/1601616176735744000

    My views for US yields is that it will perform a catch up with European yields, hence will rise
    With PPI/CPI/FOMC, there is a huge risk that bonds will selloff
    Market is still underpricing the Fed terminal rate

    https://twitter.com/InnocentSin13/status/1601895129786503168

    “Ponzi Scheme Ends”
    @NickTimiraos can we do better on these headlines?

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1601994920486572032

    San Francisco. Each dot is a location where faeces was reported over the past 8 years

    https://twitter.com/TerribleMaps/status/1601667067530575872

  10. Johor state government will work together with the federal government to study the implementation of the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H)policy…… was to address the glut of unsold luxury homes.
    Last year Malaysia changed the MM2H program essentially increasing the required income 400% (from about $2400 a month to $9,600 a month)and more than doubling the required bank deposit to qualify for MM2H in the Mainland. The Sarawak area has a cheaper program (the initial $2400/month) which I have applied to. Apparently the mainland MM2H program wanted only the highest earners. According to what I have read and heard from people in Malaysia, a lot of people don’t qualify for the new program (higher requirements) and it has not be been as successful as hoped. However, the lower priced one has a lot of people applying for it. The Sarawak MM2H website initially said turnaround time from submittal to decision was 90 days. Currently the expectation, according to licensed agents, is that the turnaround time is 6-8 months. My guess/understanding, is a lot of Chinese nationals are applying for the lower cost program.

  11. Jingle bells

    Crashing now you know
    Causing crater rage
    Down the prices go
    Laughing all the way, ha ha ha
    Housings cratering
    Making spirits bright
    What fun it is to ride and mock
    The debt donkeys tonight!

    Swindle sells
    Swindle sells
    Swindled all the way
    Oh what fun it is to laugh
    at debt donkeys today!

    Thousand Oaks, CA Housing Prices Crater 18% YOY As Ventura County Housing Market Turns Toxic

    https://www.movoto.com/thousand-oaks-ca/market-trends/

  12. “MARGARET BRENNAN: A critic would say a big bad Wall Street bank is loading debt onto poor people. How do you respond to that? Because- DIMON: That’s a fairly ignorant person.”

    I thought it was federally guaranteed government lending programs that were designed and are implemented to load debt onto poor people?

    1. Fannie Mae offers an innovative range of mortgage products, eligibility options, and solutions to help you meet your borrowers’ needs and grow your business.

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      HFA Preferred™ pairs features of HomeReady with the flexibilities from local housing finance agencies (HFAs), designed to serve more low- to moderate-income borrowers.
      …
      https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/originating-underwriting/mortgage-products

      1. How far do home prices have to fall to wipe out the home equity on a 97% LTV (loan-to-value) loan?

        1/0.97 – 1 = 3.1%.

        Lots of recent buyers are already underwater.

        1. I forgot to factor in closing costs. They were actually underwater already on the day they closed the loan. But that was fine, because it was amortized over a future period of debt slavery.

      2. “View 97% LTV/CLTV/HCLTV financing options that help you serve qualified first-time home buyers and support the refinance of Fannie Mae loans.”

        They really are doing God’s work! 🙂

  13. Yahoo
    Business Insider
    The Fed could have to quietly abandon its goal of getting inflation down to 2% next year, Mohamed El-Erian says
    George Glover
    Mon, December 12, 2022 at 3:46 AM·3 min read
    Mohamed El-Erian has warned that the Fed has fallen behind in the battle against inflation – which could cause it to quietly abandon its 2% target next year.
    Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

    – The Federal Reserve may have to cast aside its 2% inflation target in 2023, according to Mohamed El-Erian.

    – Inflation has cooled from four-decade highs but still ran at an elevated 7.7% in October.

    – The Fed’s “road from here does not get much easier,” El-Erian said Monday.

    The Federal Reserve may have to abandon its inflation target next year as it falls behind in its fight against inflation because of past policy mistakes, Mohamed El-Erian has warned.
    …
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-could-quietly-abandon-goal-114600282.html

    1. Binance Is Trying to Calm Investors, but Its Finances Remain a Mystery
      Crypto exchange has begun releasing data to shore up confidence following collapse of FTX
      By Jonathan Weil
      Updated Dec. 10, 2022 12:30 pm ET

      Binance recently made a commitment to transparency, but it has a long way to go before it discloses enough meaningful information to give investors confidence in its future, accounting and financial specialists say.

      The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is seeking to reassure customers about the safety of their holdings after the collapse of FTX. Binance’s position means its success or failure will weigh heavily on the entire crypto market.
      …

      1. In this interview, high finance dude spouts a theory where SBF and Caroline were pawns to bring down crypto. I didn’t make it all the way through the vid, but he seems to think that central banks are at the center of some overarching plot to wipe out crypto as their competition. I’m not sure if this is a valid conspiracy theory, or just someone looking rationalize that he got sucked in and wiped out by blockchain.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q_kUe1Vhwo&t=1772s

        Tin foil hattery? Maybe. But you can’t be too sure these days.

        1. interesting theory. However, if I were a betting man, would consider it far more likely that interweb claims posted days ago are more on target. A DemoncRat scam to launder huge sums of money through UKRNazis and DemonRat election campaigns.

    2. Reuters
      FTX’s Bankman-Fried says he will testify remotely at congressional hearing
      December 12, 2022, 7:54 am
      By Hannah Lang

      (Reuters) -Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, said on Monday he would testify remotely at Tuesday’s U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing to examine the collapse of the company.

      FTX filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection last month and Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive, triggering a wave of public demands for greater regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.

      The distressed crypto trading platform struggled to raise money to stave off collapse as traders rushed to withdraw $6 billion from the platform in just 72 hours and rival exchange Binance abandoned a proposed rescue deal.

      In recent weeks, U.S. authorities have sought information from investors and potential investors in FTX, two sources with knowledge of the requests told Reuters. Prosecutors and regulators have not charged Bankman-Fried with any crime.

      Tuesday’s hearing will be the first time Bankman-Fried appears publicly before U.S. lawmakers.
      …

      2. Bahamian authorities arrested former FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Monday evening.

        The development comes the evening before Bankman-Fried had agreed to testify before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee regarding the collapse of his Nassau-based exchange.

        1. Sam Bankman-Fried Monday

          “Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of crypto exchange platform FTX, was arrested Monday by Bahamian authorities.
          Authorities said the arrest was based on a “sealed indictment” from US authorities, expected to be unsealed on Tuesday. “

    3. Technology
      Crypto Was Always Smoke and Mirrors
      The fall of FTX shocked everyone. Except this guy.
      By Charlie Warzel
      An image of coins with arrows pointing in different directions
      Getty / The Atlantic
      December 12, 2022, 2:18 PM ET

      The world of cryptocurrency is rich with eccentric characters and anonymous Twitter personalities. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the early figures who called attention to the problems with Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, is a 30-year-old Michigan psychiatrist who investigates financial crimes as a hobby.

      James Block, who runs a crypto newsletter called Dirty Bubble Media, has gotten overlooked in the swift and spectacular collapse of FTX. On November 2, a report from the crypto publication Coindesk highlighted the troubled balance sheet of Bankman-Fried’s crypto-trading firm, Alameda Research. Two days later, Block’s post titled “Is Alameda Research Insolvent?” went viral, and for good reason: Block had connected the dots from Coindesk’s earlier work to suggest that both FTX and Alameda had their money tied up in their own made-up tokens—an unsustainable circular flow of cash that would eventually sink FTX.
      …
      https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/cryptocurrency-ftx-collapse-dirty-bubble-media/672440/

      1. Brian Quarmby
        2 hours ago
        Senator Lummis still ‘very comfortable’ with Bitcoin in retirement plans
        Crypto winter and calls from other senators to ban Bitcoin in retirement plans haven’t shaken the pro-crypto senator’s resolve.
        Senator Lummis still ‘very comfortable’ with Bitcoin in retirement plans
        News
        Collect this article as NFT

        Pro-crypto United States Senator Cynthia Lummis has remained steadfast in her support for Bitcoin
        as part of diversified retirement plans, despite calls otherwise from her Senate peers.

        As it stands, Lummis seems to be just one of the few openly crypto-friendly politicians in the United States and has notably pushed for progressive crypto regulation alongside Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

        Speaking with online news outlet Semafor on Dec. 12, Lummis outlined that crypto winter has not shaken her resolve in BTC and that she’d still like to see the asset included in United States 401(k) retirement plans:

        “I’m very comfortable with making sure that people can include Bitcoin in their retirement funds because it’s just different than other cryptocurrencies.”

        “I personally believe that because there are only going to be 21 million Bitcoin that are mined, that Bitcoin will go up,” Lummis said, adding that it’s “a personal belief, just based on its scarcity.”

        But the “jury’s still out on other cryptocurrencies,” the senator said.
        …
        https://cointelegraph.com/news/sen-lummis-still-very-comfortable-with-bitcoin-in-retirement-plans

      1. Remember who threatened to get you FIRED FROM YOUR JOB for not getting injected with this deadly mRNA poison?

        Joseph Robinette Biden

        He told me and many others that he was growing impatient with our reluctance to get jabbed.

        He then signed an executive order that would have cost me my job, and I was spared because the courts ruled that the executive order that covered my employer was unconstitutional before the deadline arrived.

        I applied for an exemption at work, and never heard one way or the other what the outcome was for that. Most of my coworkers were happy to roll up their sleeves and even bragged about getting their boosters.

      2. “100% safe and effective.”

        Playing the role of the tenth man…

        So Israel was first to vaccinate their entire (???) population at U.S. expense under the guise of, “data collection and testing.” I haven’t seen any bad press from there, and they’re likely to make a lot of noise if another “genocide” was in progress, but so far nothing. So what’s really going on?

          1. All Xi needs to do is send us a quit claim for Taiwan and apologize to Dr. Jill Biden, and we’ll start shipping the mRNA in 55-gal barrels. Right?

  20. In Oct of 2022, Bill Gates, WHO, Stanford University and the other Culprits, did a simulation on a new scarier deadly virus that targets children this time. The 201 trial simulation occurred shortly before the Covid Panademic .
    Just at a time in which overwhelming evidence of death and injury from the fake vaccine should have it pulled from market, they are setting up for round 2 of Pandemic..
    In Jan Joe Biden plans on signing a Treaty giving the Corrupt WHO the power by treaty to dictate the response to the next Pandemic, WHO could enforce lockdowns, masks or mandate vaccines. for every Country that signs the treaty.
    So, I predict the plan for a scarier and more lethal virus that hits children , ,that is either faked, new bio-weapon released, or vaccine injury and death will be claimed to be the new Panademic.
    They can’t let up on Climate Change or the pandemics as the weaponized pre-
    planned means of One World Order takeover. ..

    You have about a 90% reduction on the public wanting more shots or boosters..
    .Withdraw of energy that will cause famine and freezing is what genocidal psychopaths would do , not sane Government. This just can’t go on for another day. They need to be busted now and arrested and tried for this assault on humanity. No more talk with no action.

  21. “When labor market remains tight & inflation remains elevated, the result is higher wages. JOB VACANCIES / UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RATIO
    The FED has to raise rates further otherwise inflation will bounce again.“

    – Historically, the FFR has to be raised above CPI to kill the inflation that the Fed caused by massively increasing the $ supply.
    – However, our highly indebted economy can’t handle 8% FFR.
    – “It’s different this time” vs. the 1970s due to MUCH higher debt levels + MUCH older demographics.
    – So, maybe 5% FFR will be enough?
    – We’ll all know soon.
    – There’s no avoiding a deep recession and hard landing, IMHO.
    – Just remember the Fed did this; they’re destroying the economy. Some say it’s a feature, not a bug. Free markets no more.

    1. As a noted economist stated, “Get rates back up into the longterm historic range of 12% to 15% and most of these problems go away on their own.”

      He’s right.

      Buckle up my good friend… buckle up.

      Denton, NC Housing Prices Crater 25% YOY As Rural Housing Demand Plummets

      https://www.movoto.com/denton-nc/market-trends/

      As a noted economist explained, “If you have to borrow for 15 or 30 years, you can’t afford it nor is it affordable.”

  25. ‘According to a recent National Bank of Canada report, it now takes 67.3 per cent of a household income to pay a mortgage on the average home — the highest percentage in 41 years’

    Sound lending!

  26. ‘I have failed to sell the apartment worth VND3 billion over the past year. Now I am willing to accept a loss of VND600 million.’

    Yer bargaining Lu.

    ‘He noted that the interest rate on a bank loan he took increased recently from 9% to over 13%’

    Oh, I can see why.

    ‘Meanwhile, prices of land for townhouses in Thu Duc City have dropped by around 27% since mid-2022. The prices of apartments and land are also plummeting in Districts 7 Binh Chanh, Nha Be, Can Gio and others’

    Sux to be you Lu. Hey, that’s kind of catchy!

  30. Stazi thugs in the spy apparatus may start pointing fingers at each other…. maybe even Cornpop and CrackPipe Biden.

    1. How long before CrackPipe Biden gets appointed to run the DEA?
      Maybe, let’s face it, he has more experience with drugs than he does energy and look how valuable he is to foreign energy companies.

    1. Local News
      Tenants in Blackstone-owned properties rally against evictions
      “If I didn’t have a family to take me in, I would be on the street. That’s how it is for many people,” said Lila Miller. She was recently evicted.
      Author: Kelly Hessedal
      Published: 2:03 PM PST December 9, 2022
      Updated: 2:03 PM PST December 9, 2022

      SAN DIEGO — A rally in downtown San Diego Friday called for a halt to evictions at Blackstone-owned properties.

      The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE, said San Diego County is already dealing with a homeless crisis, and now is not the time to force people to find somewhere else to live.

      “We already have a big housing crisis, so kicking people out of their homes will only worsen. People have nowhere to go; rent is too expensive. There’s very limited affordable housing here, so people need to stay in their homes,” said Sarah Guzman of ACCE.
      …
      https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/tenants-in-blackstone-owned-properties-rally/509-591cc3fb-ba2c-4425-a8de-49ea3d16557c

    2. Kicking poor families out onto the street to make more bank for ultrarich clients. At Christmas time.

      For shame, Blackstone infestors, for shame…

      1. Kicking poor families out onto the street to make more bank for ultrarich clients. At Christmas time.
        In Chicago I know courts have delayed evictions specifically because of Christmas. My buddy had one delayed and he had to wait until January 2nd at 8:00. He was there at 8:01.

    3. The Lesson of Blackstone’s Retail Real Estate Fund: Liquidity Matters
      By Andrew Bary
      Updated Dec. 10, 2022 11:47 am ET / Original Dec. 9, 2022 7:33 pm ET
      Soon after limiting redemptions in November, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust said it was selling a stake in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay, above.

      The recent move by Blackstone ’s giant retail real estate fund to limit redemptions after outsize withdrawal requests is a wake-up call for investors in a once-hot sector that may now face more regulatory scrutiny.

      Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, known as BREIT, wasn’t supposed to offer surprises. The $69 billion BREIT, the leader among nontraded funds, was a way to get solid returns, a chunky 4% dividend, and the expertise of the world’s top commercial real estate investor. In return, investors sacrificed liquidity—they could only withdraw their investments from the fund, which doesn’t trade on an exchange, up to 2% of net-asset value a month and 5% a quarter. For quite a while, it worked; the fund returned 9% this year through October and 13% annually since its inception almost six years ago.

      Those strong returns attracted $26 billion of net purchases from investors in 2021. But inflows turned to outflows, and on Dec. 1, Blackstone (ticker: BX) made a surprise announcement: It was limiting investor redemptions after requests hit the quarterly limit—what’s known as “gating” a fund. Redemption requests rose from $1.8 billion in October to $3 billion in November, forcing it to prorate and accept only 43% of requests, in order to limit total payments to 2%, or $1.3 billion. To stay within the 5% quarterly cap, BREIT will redeem just 0.3% of the fund in December, some $200 million.

      With the fund now gated, redemptions are likely to continue, and inflows could be challenged, say Wall Street analysts. BMO analyst Rufus Hone wrote that he expects near-term inflows to “drop to essentially zero,” while Benjamin Budish of Barclays, in downgrading Blackstone stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, wrote that the caps could “drive further run-on-the-bank type redemption requests, as well as pressure new inflows, as advisors will be less likely to recommend a product that is (for the moment) limiting liquidity.”
      …
      https://www.barrons.com/articles/blackstone-retail-real-estate-fund-breit-liquidity-51670632249?refsec=funds&mod=topics_funds

      1. ‘BMO analyst Rufus Hone wrote that he expects near-term inflows to “drop to essentially zero,”’

        Translation: CR8R

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