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The Grim Reaper Has Got A Firm Grasp On The Property Market

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Christina and Dave Clausi’s family of five moved into a three-bed, two-bath home in McKinney, Texas this July. After renting in the city for four years, the first time homebuyers finally found a home, but not without some sacrifice. Their yard is too small to fit a trampoline, the home is about 500 square feet smaller than the rental they left, and they weren’t able to afford a new build. Dave is a litigation paralegal case manager at Burress Law in McKinney, and Christina works part-time as a server at Choctaw Casino — she works weekend and some weekday nights so she can take care of her three children during the day. Even though Christina picks up extra shifts, the two still struggle to make ends meet, especially as their mortgage is $850 more than what they paid in rent. Christina started working in May — after being a stay-at-home mom for about four years — to help with rising costs.”

“‘It’s really heartbreaking because we bought our own house, and we should be able to save more money and excel in life, but now we’re like, ‘What are we not buying for groceries this week?’ And we definitely can’t go on vacation… it’s pretty stressful going from $1,850 to $2,700. It almost makes me want to throw up,’ said Christina, 33, noting that while stressful, the sacrifice is worth it to be in McKinney where she loves the parks and schools for her kids.”

“In March, DFW’s home values dropped 1.2 percent compared to one year prior, marking the region’s first year-over-year decline since February 2012. North Texas has bounced back, though. DFW’s prices still may be 4.1 percent lower than its pandemic peak, but that figure is considerably better than markets like San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas and Phoenix, where prices have fallen by 9.7, 8.8, 8.2 and 7.5 percent, respectively.”

“More homes are being built in York, Lancaster and Chester counties, but what kind of market is this? The latest figures show there are fewer sales, pending contracts and listings than there were a year go. Lancaster County saw July sales drop 21.2% year-to-year, with 156 homes sold. New listings dropped 29.5% and contract activity dropped 10%. Unlike in York County, sale prices fell in Lancaster County. Median sale price dropped 12% to $410,000. Average sale price dropped 6.5% to $428,936. The average list price was down 39.3% to $438,981. Homes that spent an average of 13 days on the market last year spent 28 days this year, an increase of 115.4%.”

“Home prices in Salt Lake County were down seven percent during the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period a year ago, according to new data released Thursday. That data from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors showed the median price for a single-family home in the county during April, May, and June was $582,500. That was lower than the $623,138 sales price in 2022. Home sales in Salt Lake County were also down considerably last quarter, according to the data – a 25 percent drop this year compared to last year. It was a similar story in other counties along the Wasatch Front, the data showed.”

“Waterfront enthusiasts with deep pockets, take note: There has been a $20 million price drop on 46 Ledgerock Lane in Hyde Park, a 10-acre estate that juts over the Hudson River that was first listed for sale in late 2021 with a record-breaking price tag of $45 million. In early 2023, the ‘masterpiece of modernist architecture’ was the subject of a no-reserve online sale. But despite this, the glass and stone mansion with guesthouse has yet to snag a new owner. The property is now on the market with a significantly ‘corrected’ price tag and new sales and marketing representation from two teams at Douglas Elliman. Nothing about the property has changed to warrant a nearly 50 percent price cut. The sellers are highly motivated to sell, said John Oliveira, co-founder of the Oliveira Pinkas team at Douglas Elliman . ‘A lot of times with COVID and what it did to the market in the region, sellers would dip their toes in the water to test out pricing and demand,’ he said. ‘This time around, there’s more clarity for the seller. At this time, the sellers are more seriously motivated.'”

“Canadian consumers are facing mounting financial pressure amid higher interest rates, and it’s something Canada’s biggest lenders are bracing for. Pedro Antunes, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada, told Global News this week that only a third or so of outstanding mortgages have already renewed into the higher rate environment, with ‘a lot of pain yet to come.’ RBC, TD Bank, CIBC and BMO’s third-quarter earnings all show that more than 40 per cent of their current mortgage books hold amortizations past the typical 25-year mark. When these mortgages come up for renewal, many consumers could be forced to snap back to their original amortization period at today’s rates, which can mean much higher payments.”

“Mortgage broker Leah Zlatkin tells Global News that there’s a lot of ‘uncertainty” in the mortgage space right now.’ Zlatkin says your existing lender could be the only place to turn at renewal. That could see consumers offered unfavourable rates because the lender knows there’s little threat from competition elsewhere in the marketplace, she says. ‘That’s where I think it becomes really disadvantageous for consumers because you can be put between a rock and a hard place.'”

“The average UK house price fell in August at the sharpest annual rate seen in 14 years, according to an index. Riz Malik, director of Southend-on-Sea-based independent mortgage broker, R3 Mortgages told Newspage: ‘Typically, these people are seasoned landlords with ready cash, allowing them to swiftly finalise deals, often at very strong discounts.’ Graham Cox, founder of the Bristol-based broker, Self Employed Mortgage Hub, agreed with Malik: ‘The cash buyers out there are likely to be property investors purchasing property at below-market value from distressed sellers. And estate agents will be favouring cash buyers to prevent chains collapsing. The latter is happening a lot right now due to the state of the market.'”

“Jamie Lennox, director at Norwich-based mortgage broker, Dimora Mortgages, drove home the harsh reality that while many lose out, others cash in: ‘The grim reaper has got a firm grasp on the property market. There has been a huge downturn in property transactions with mortgages and overall house prices. A gaping void of demand and falling house prices have left the wealthy with no mortgages to fill their boots.'”

“Swedes are increasingly pulling out of reservations to buy new-build homes as the housing market has cooled rapidly and demand for new developments dwindles. About 65% of contracts for planned new dwellings were canceled in the past six months by buyers choosing to take the cost rather than follow through on purchases in a slumping market, according to data published by state-owned lender SBAB on Friday. That’s the highest share since at least 2014. A separate release on Friday showed a swathe of bankruptcies hitting builders. ‘The situation for sales and bookings of new homes is disastrous,’ SBAB chief economist Robert Boije said in a statement. ‘Sales volumes are currently at a fourth or fifth of the level we saw only a year or two ago. My guess is that we only have seen the beginning of the crisis in the residential construction sector, and there will be a steady stream of bankruptcies in the coming year.'”

“Tradies and homeowners have been left reeling from the news that a Sydney building company has gone bust. Last Thursday, on August 24, Simone Homes Pty Ltd went into voluntary liquidation. The family-run business was headquartered in Leppington in Sydney’s southwest and its liquidator is now Bradley John Tonks of insolvency firm PKF. One disgruntled tradesman told news.com.au ‘No one knows where that money went.’ One customer appears to have been fed up with the business for some time. A review left a week ago for Simone Homes reads: ‘Horrendous company to work with. Save yourself the money and the trouble and go somewhere else. You’re better off letting a five-year-old build your property.'”

“Despite the mythology of the Great Australian Dream—that home ownership is the grand social equaliser—the effects of rising repayments are not affecting everyone equally. More people are now being forced to sell their homes. In Sydney’s south-west, for instance, one in ten property sales is ‘distressed,’ up from one in 25 last year. Almost a million people are now working multiple jobs (a new record) after 89,000 people added a second job in the first three months of this year. ‘We don’t have a single penny in savings, just coping with the mortgage,’ said Rana, a 38-year-old bus driver and father from Marsden Park in outer Sydney. ‘Normally I’ve never worked on weekends, but now I’m doing it every Sunday. Family time is cut—we can’t think about having a second child now.'”

“The market for Chinese developers’ dollar-denominated bonds has seen a meltdown over the past two years, losing a staggering 87% of value. The rout has wiped out $135.5 billion of value from $154.9 billion of outstanding notes, according to an analysis by Debtwire. ‘The average price on the notes is now only a tad above 11 cents on the dollar,’ Debtwire co-managing editor Chaim Estulin wrote. The crash in Chinese builders’ dollar debt is symptomatic of the broader crisis facing the nation’s real-estate sector, which has seen 53 companies collapse in the space of little over two years.”

“Real estate agents have been calling Daisy Wu non-stop to get her to buy an apartment in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, but the 28-year-old said she was too worried about the slowing economy to consider making a purchase. ‘The loosening of mortgage rules doesn’t relieve me of any stress,’ said Wu, who works for a pharmaceuticals firm. ‘Companies are laying people off or even shutting down. My boyfriend and I are too afraid to buy.'”

“In Shenzhen and Guangzhou, people who have fully repaid their last mortgage or sold their homes are now eligible for smaller down payments and lower interest rates when they make a new purchase. For Shenzhen homeowner Tina Zhuo, the new policy is ‘not attractive’ as she does not want to sell her current home in what she calls ‘a buyers’ market.’ ‘I’m earning less so I don’t want to risk looking for a better property,’ she said.”

“State-owned company employee Chen Yibo does want to sell his apartment in the smaller southern city of Nanning and buy a more expensive one in Guangzhou, where he works, but he is not finding any buyers.
Without making that sale, he cannot afford to buy. ‘Even the smaller down payment is too much for me,’ he said. ‘Only lower house prices and subsidies will work for me.’ Wu, the pharmaceuticals worker, was last shown a flat selling for 1 million yuan ($137,697) less than the average price in that district. ‘I was told that the price could be lowered by another 200,000 yuan, but we don’t dare to buy it,’ she added.”

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This Post Has 137 Comments

  1. ‘now we’re like, ‘What are we not buying for groceries this week?’

    Finally! Christina has what it takes to be a winnah!

      1. Except, not.

        “their mortgage is $850 more than what they paid in rent.”

        “‘It’s really heartbreaking because we bought our own house, and we should be able to save more money and excel in life”

        IOW, loanownership means you’re better than other people and on easy street. This mentality is what keeps the bagholders lining up.

        1. ‘Their yard is too small to fit a trampoline, the home is about 500 square feet smaller than the rental they left’

          A family of five. Kids, go play in the street!

          1. Kids, go play in the street!

            Ironically, I did exactly that, and in the train yard.

            Perhaps explains a lot.

          2. “Kids, go play in the street!”

            One afternoon, I was looking for a repo in Hunters Point (San Francisco), and I saw some kids had a tether ball tied to a STOP sign, one standing in the street, the other on the sidewalk., both happy as clams at high tide.

    2. All the new builds here in McKinney are $600K to $1.5 million. I bought my home during the last crash at $175K for 2600sf. That tells you how insane it’s gotten. It’s still a nice city, but not the friendly small town it used to be. The population has more than doubled and a lot of shady characters from Chicago, Atlanta, and California have moved here. It’s still a boomtown for people getting away from the big cities, but soon it will be part of the big city. I sold last year and am still here renting for another year. Looking to get far away.

        1. I have 18 acres out in the Hill Country by the Brazos River, but building is too expensive right now. I might have to go with a barndo.

          1. ’18 acres out in the Hill Country by the Brazos River’

            About 20 years ago the “Hill Country” was several hundreds miles south of there.

          2. The Hill Country that most people know is around the Austin area. Not many people know that some of those hills stretch all the way up west of Fort Worth. You can get some beautiful views.

  2. ‘Nothing about the property has changed to warrant a nearly 50 percent price cut. The sellers are highly motivated to sell, said John Oliveira, co-founder of the Oliveira Pinkas team at Douglas Elliman . ‘A lot of times with COVID and what it did to the market in the region, sellers would dip their toes in the water to test out pricing and demand,’ he said. ‘This time around, there’s more clarity for the seller. At this time, the sellers are more seriously motivated’

    So just like that John, yer giving it away.

    1. “A lot of times with COVID and what it did to the market”

      Minor respiratory illness strikes again.

    2. “Nothing about the property has changed to warrant a nearly 50 percent price cut.”

      C’mon John, confess…there goes ‘yer commission!

    3. Nothing about the property changed to make it double in “value” either. Funny how that cuts both ways

      1. “As your realtor, I have a fiduciary obligation to warn you that buying into a housing bubble blown by the Fed’s deranged money printing is setting yourself up for a financial Waterloo,” said no realtor ever.

  3. ‘RBC, TD Bank, CIBC and BMO’s third-quarter earnings all show that more than 40 per cent of their current mortgage books hold amortizations past the typical 25-year mark. When these mortgages come up for renewal, many consumers could be forced to snap back to their original amortization period at today’s rates, which can mean much higher payments’

    ‘Mortgage broker Leah Zlatkin tells Global News that there’s a lot of ‘uncertainty” in the mortgage space right now.’ Zlatkin says your existing lender could be the only place to turn at renewal. That could see consumers offered unfavourable rates because the lender knows there’s little threat from competition elsewhere in the marketplace, she says. ‘That’s where I think it becomes really disadvantageous for consumers because you can be put between a rock and a hard place’

    Only because they’re eating Leah.

  4. Switzerland was urged to prepare properly for the failure of a big bank on Friday by a group of experts in the wake of the collapse of Credit Suisse, but their report to government skirted radical reform some say is needed.

    UBS Group emerged as Switzerland’s single largest bank earlier this year after the government hastily arranged and partly bankrolled its takeover of stricken Credit Suisse to prevent that bank’s collapse.

    The failure of one of the world’s biggest banks and a one-time symbol of Swiss financial strength blindsided the country’s officials and regulators, who had long grappled with the lender as it lurched from one scandal to the next.

    On Friday, a group of Swiss experts, including bankers and academics, urged the government to improve its readiness should UBS, which is now far larger, run into trouble.

    They called for the country’s regulator FINMA to be given more clout with the power to impose fines. They said FINMA should be given more authority to intervene and that there should be improved coordination amongst Swiss authorities. The experts also recommended that FINMA get closer to banks’ executives before there is a crisis.

    https://uk.news.yahoo.com/wake-credit-suisse-switzerland-told-083208372.html

  5. ‘Typically, these people are seasoned landlords with ready cash, allowing them to swiftly finalise deals, often at very strong discounts.’ Graham Cox, founder of the Bristol-based broker, Self Employed Mortgage Hub, agreed with Malik: ‘The cash buyers out there are likely to be property investors purchasing property at below-market value from distressed sellers’

    That’s the spirit seasoned landlords, lowball the hell out of em!

  6. ‘About 65% of contracts for planned new dwellings were canceled in the past six months by buyers choosing to take the cost rather than follow through on purchases in a slumping market, according to data published by state-owned lender SBAB on Friday. That’s the highest share since at least 2014’

    Is everybody just giving it away now? Jeebus!

    ‘A separate release on Friday showed a swathe of bankruptcies hitting builders. ‘The situation for sales and bookings of new homes is disastrous…‘Sales volumes are currently at a fourth or fifth of the level we saw only a year or two ago’

    Bob, we’ve all agreed to not mention 2022 or 2021.

  7. ‘It’s really heartbreaking because we bought our own house, and we should be able to save more money and excel in life, but now we’re like, ‘What are we not buying for groceries this week?’

    The real heartbreak will come when this dimwit couple realize they bought into a bursting housing bubble.

    1. At least they can stop payments, save up money for 18 months living there free, then move out when the foreclosure finalizes. Hopefully they learn their lesson.

  8. ‘We don’t have a single penny in savings, just coping with the mortgage,’ said Rana, a 38-year-old bus driver and father from Marsden Park in outer Sydney. ‘Normally I’ve never worked on weekends, but now I’m doing it every Sunday. Family time is cut—we can’t think about having a second child now’

    Yer spinning yer wheels if yer still eating Rana. Be like Christina, the winnah!

  9. ‘In Shenzhen and Guangzhou, people who have fully repaid their last mortgage or sold their homes are now eligible for smaller down payments and lower interest rates when they make a new purchase. For Shenzhen homeowner Tina Zhuo, the new policy is ‘not attractive’ as she does not want to sell her current home in what she calls ‘a buyers’ market’

    Hold yer ground Tina. That airbox is yer ticket to riches!

  10. “The market for Chinese developers’ dollar-denominated bonds has seen a meltdown over the past two years, losing a staggering 87% of value.

    Is that a lot?

  11. ‘Only lower house prices and subsidies will work for me.’

    Why should anyone have to subsidize your skybox, Chen?

  13. Are you worried that a recession may not be completely off the near term US economic agenda, but rather merely on hold?

    For one thing, property sales are a key driver of US economic activity. Reading between the lines of financial reports, it seems like the US property market is swirling the drain.

    1. Premium Home
      Markets
      ‘We’re one gust of wind away from recession’: A JPMorgan global strategy chief shares why the economy is still at risk despite rising optimism — and 3 places he’s bullish on now
      James Faris
      Sep 1, 2023, 2:30 AM PDT
      David Kelly
      JPMorgan Asset Management strategy chief David Kelly is more confident about the economy, but he said it’s not out of the woods. JPMorgan Asset Management

      Debates have raged over the last year regarding whether an economic downturn was improbable or inevitable, and what’s perhaps most surprising is that the disagreement hasn’t yet been resolved.

      David Kelly, the chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, has been torn for months about whether the US economy will contract or not. Earlier this year, he told Insider that a downturn is “almost a 50-50 shot,” even as he recommended that investors stick to stocks.
      …
      https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-invest-recession-risk-economy-outlook-prediction-jpmorgan-kelly-2023-9

    2. Yahoo
      Yahoo Finance
      Stock futures jump after surprise rise in US unemployment: Stock market news today
      Alexandra Canal and Karen Friar
      Fri, September 1, 2023 at 5:51 AM PDT·1 min read

      Stock futures popped higher on Wall Street after the August payrolls report showed a surprise jump in US unemployment as the economy added more jobs than expected.

      Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added 0.5%, or about 160 points, while S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures were up 0.6%. Nasdaq 100 futures put on 0.7%, after all three gauges closed out August with monthly losses.

      The US created 187,000 jobs in August, compared with the 170,000 forecast by economists, while the unemployment rate rose 3.8% versus the 3.5% expected.

      Investors will now scrutinize the data for what it shows about the health of the labor market, which will add more fuel to the debate about the Federal Reserve’s future path of interest rates.

      “We expect this labor market rebalancing to continue,” Powell said in a speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium last week. “Evidence that the tightness in the labor market is no longer easing could also call for a monetary policy response.”
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-futures-jump-after-surprise-rise-in-us-unemployment-stock-market-news-today-105355712.html

      1. “…while the unemployment rate rose 3.8% versus the 3.5% expected.”

        Any suggestions on how to interpret that statement?

      1. Media
        Published September 1, 2023 6:00am EDT
        Expert says ‘some kind of miracles’ needed in ‘world of real estate’ to reverse trends
        Freddie Mac reported rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 7.18% as of Thursday
        By Madeline Coggins FOXBusiness
        The Rogers Healy Companies CEO Rogers Healy on middle-income families struggling to obtain homes as interest rates rise video
        Millennials struggling to buy homes: Conditions have ‘changed drastically’

        The housing market continues to leave homebuyers struggling to find affordable options as mortgage rates surge and inventory remains scarce.

        One industry expert highlighted changes facing buyers trying to combat the new real estate terrain.

        “We’ve been stuck in this cycle now really since COVID. I think that people are just kind of waiting for things to change, and it might not ever change,” The Rogers Healy Companies CEO Rogers Healy said on “America’s Newsroom” Thursday.

        “I think that real estate continues to drive our economy. And I think people are going to hopefully find a way to bring out some kind of miracles in the world of real estate. And it’s going to obviously be around interest rates, if not other options as well,” he added.
        …
        https://www.foxbusiness.com/real-estate/expert-says-some-kind-miracles-needed-world-real-estate-reverse-trends

    1. NYC remains the number one image that people have when they dream of coming here. For the last couple months, the brain trust that runs NYC has been broadcasting to the entire planet that they will find a spot for every single person who shows up and feed them etc. I am shocked to learn that a new wave of ‘entrants’ is arriving. No one could have seen this coming.

      1. Bus them all to NYC, CHicago and LA. Will the Feds give the cities ample funding to deal with the invaders?

        Truly feels like Camp of the Saints

  16. A trifecta of powerful globalist organizations is rigorously executing a plan to teach kindergarteners about sexuality and “empower” children to say yes to sexual encounters, according to agency documents reviewed by The Epoch Times.

    Critics say this amounts to children being “groomed” for sex under the banner of human rights and education, while pedophilia is promoted and parental rights are undermined. Experts told The Epoch Times that the push for these programs to be accepted in nations around the world could lead to the practice of having sex with “consenting” children being viewed as acceptable.

    Proponents of the programs say they seek to ensure that children’s “rights” to sexual pleasure are protected.

    The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations are advancing children’s exposure to sexuality on two fronts, according to documents.

    On one front, the organizations are promoting comprehensive sexuality education that emphasizes teaching consent for sex. On another front, the groups are pushing to remold the portrayal of children and young people as “sexual beings” with sexual rights that should be based on maturity instead of age.

    The curriculum also introduces the idea that minors have “rights” to make decisions concerning their own bodies and to experience “desire, pleasure, and happiness,” without parental involvement, while exploring homosexuality and role-playing.

    Meg Kilgannon and other experts are convinced that childhood sexual education is harmful. She believes that the globalist groups’ agenda could ultimately harm children by normalizing pedophilia.

    “There are adults who want to have sex with children, and they are working in international sex-rights groups to make that happen,” Ms. Kilgannon told The Epoch Times.

    Stefano Gennarini is an attorney and vice president for legal studies at the Center for Family and Human Rights, a conservative watchdog group in New York. He says a network of U.N. agencies and nonprofits provides children with information about engaging in all manner of sexual activity, transgenderism, and abortion. The coordinated international effort is “very well-funded,” Mr. Gennarini told The Epoch Times. “This is not a conspiracy theory.”

    Sex education is starting younger than ever.

    The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) commissioned a document about teaching sex education to children beginning in kindergarten called the “International Technical Guidance on Sexual Education.”

    UNESCO worked with the WHO and U.N. agencies, such as U.N. Women and the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to develop the guide, according to agency websites.

    The document’s introduction states that the program’s aim is to “equip children and young people” with knowledge and to empower them to “develop respectful social and sexual relationships.”

    The guidance falls under the U.N.’s global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. U.N. members— including the United States under President Barack Obama’s leadership— adopted the agenda’s 17 goals in 2015 for ending poverty, protecting the planet, and improving lives worldwide.

    As part of that agenda, the U.N. wants its brand of sex education to be mandatory worldwide. It has called on governments to enforce the policies through international pledges already made.

    “Continued efforts are needed to ensure that CSE [childhood sexual education] is mandated under law and/or policy,” according to a U.N. agency progress report called “The Journey Towards Comprehensive Sexuality Education.”

    To help further that mission, the IPPF published a kit that outlines sex-ed standards for children younger than 10. Sexual activity may be part of different types of relationships, including dating, marriage, or “commercial sex work,” among others, the program instructs children under 10.

    Ms. Kilgannon served in the U.S. Department of Education during the administration of President Donald Trump. She calls the idea of separating the rights of children from their parents a “dangerous” concept being played out on the international and national stage.

    “It’s built upon the premise that parents don’t have the best interest of their children in mind,” she said. “And there’s just nothing further from the truth.”

    She believes international groups are working together to lower the accepted age of consent for children to have sex. National organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the Trevor Project, and the Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network develop their own “fake national standards of sex education, and they all look like they could have come out of a government agency,” she said.

    But really, they’re just special-interest groups promoting their brand of sex education. And their efforts align with a global push to teach children about sex, she said. “They’re people who are committed to pushing this questionable science of Alfred Kinsey and sex researchers,” she said.

    Mr. Kinsey was an American sexologist and zoologist who founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University in 1947. It’s now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. There, he taught that children are sexual beings from birth, capable of sexual response. The official narrative of his research included input from pedophiles. They assured Mr. Kinsey that children could have pleasurable sexual experiences, he said.

    Rebecca Friedrichs, founder of For Kids & Country, believes the idea of child sexuality now being taught and endorsed as human rights can be traced back to Mr. Kinsey. She was a teacher in California before quitting and taking up the fight against what she describes as the “education mafia” of teachers’ unions in the United States.

    Teacher unions like the National Education Association have promoted sex education as a solution to underage pregnancies and STDs.

    They’ve argued that parents weren’t teaching their children about sex at home, so schools needed to step in, Ms. Friedrichs said. But in reality, childhood sexual education breaks down morals and sexual boundaries and drives a wedge between parents and their children, she said.

    When teachers begin talking to students about their own sexual orientation and exposing them to discussions about sexuality, that should alarm parents, she said. “That’s called grooming,” Ms. Friedrichs said.

    Like Marxist-based radical gender and race theories and social-emotional learning, the goal of childhood sexual education is to divide and conquer, she said. “Unions want every child to be indoctrinated in a government-run school,” she said. It’s been going on since the 1960s, she added.

    April Gallart is a former California teacher who volunteers as a representative of United Families International at the United Nations. She started going to the U.N. in 2013 to lobby for family values by discussing issues with delegates, she said. At the U.N., she discovered resistance to parental rights and family values.

    She recalled one instance when the U.N. “fought tooth and nail” to get the words “mother and father” out of a document. Parents who protect their children from sexuality are seen as roadblocks to allowing children the autonomy to make their own decisions, she said. Everything is about the individual. And that separates individuals from the support of their families, she said. “The F-word in the U.N. is ‘family,'” Ms. Gallart said.

    Policymakers want mothers in the workforce away from their children, she said. When children take care of aging parents at home, policymakers view it as unpaid labor. “They’re trying to break down all these roles that we value, that we’ve had for millennia, and trying to give all the power of decision-making to children,” she said.

    Ms. Gallart questioned why adults would want to talk to children about sexuality. “The only reason to do that is to break their boundaries down,” Ms. Gallart said. “If it isn’t pedophilia, what’s the reason?”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/global-network-promotes-sexual-rights-for-children-5455257

    2. “This is not a conspiracy theory”

      “If it isn’t pedophilia, what’s the reason?”

      Globalists gonna globe.

      And on the subject of adult men who want to have sex with boys, has anybody heard from Yoel Roth lately?

      It was one of the topics covered in his PhD dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania, before he because the head of Trust And Safety at Twitter under former CEO Jack Dorsey.

      Where are you Yoel? And is it true that the nation of Israel will not extradite convicted molesters and statutory rapists back to the United States? Your LinkedIn bio notes that you are fluent in Hebrew, you’d feel right at home there.

      1. It’s telling that two of the three Soros scum Kyle Rittenhouse shot in self-defense had convictions for pedophile-related offenses.

    3. Note that this doesn’t involve any politician having to run on pedophilia, which would get them tarred and feathered. It just starts showing up at the schools etc.

      1. “this doesn’t involve any politician having to run on pedophilia”

        Go look at some of the bills that California State Senator Scott Weiner has sponsored. He’s not hiding anything.

    4. “If it isn’t pedophilia, what’s the reason?”
      It’s like the animal that’s bred to want to be eaten in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Also like corporations that aren’t content with you doing your work competently, they want you to tell them you love it. Evil control freaks.

  18. American families may soon max out their credit cards, top analyst warns, and be hung out to dry

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-families-may-soon-max-110841080.html

    Struggling U.S. families covering their living expenses with credit card loans may soon run out of options, an analyst has warned, saying a spending correction is on the cards.

    American consumers have stayed stubbornly resilient in the face of rising rates and costs of living—even as the Fed has deliberately tried to curb their spending to get inflation in line.

    Shoppers were warned their bank balances would be pushed to the “point of pain” in order to get the inflation metric—which went as high as 8.5% in July 2022—under control.

    Experts said ‘YOLO shoppers’ were splurging the last of their COVID cash before bunkering down for winter, but ING’s chief international economist, James Knightley, has warned shoppers may be turning to loans in order to keep up with their expenses.

    The economist for the global bank highlighted that July’s personal income and spending report had revealed personal spending is remaining strong—up 0.8% month-on-month and 0.6% in real terms.

    Knightley describes such spending as a “really strong platform” for Q3 GDP, which ING is currently predicting an annualized rate of between 3% and 3.5%.

    The only problem is, Knightley writes, American consumers are living a lifestyle their bank accounts simply cannot justify.

    “The key question is how sustainable this is?” Knightley writes. “We don’t think it is.”

    The jobs market’s resilience goes some way to shoring up the sustainability of consumer spending, the analyst added.

    Indeed, jobs data for July showed that nonfarm payrolls (jobs in the private sector and government agencies) expanded by 187,000, slightly shy of the Dow Jones estimate of 200,000. However that’s still a modest gain on the figure from June, which had downwardly revised to 185,000.

    But a resilient labour market is offset by stagnating wage growth that is trailing behind inflation.

    While inflation sits at 3.3% personal income gained just 0.2% in July, while savings rates fell to 3.5% with shoppers having little left over from their paychecks.

    The credit card issue
    Knightley noted that fiscal support from the government has run dry, and consumers are pillaging their pandemic savings in order to keep spending.

    While households saved $2.3 trillion during various lockdowns, the analyst said the economy is now seeing the opposite: “We have seen savings flows reverse and now we are running them down each and every month, which is not sustainable over the long term.”

    Drawing down on savings is being compounded by consumers taking on new loans in the form of credit cards.

    The Federal Reserve Bank of New York revealed last month that credit card balances across the U.S. had spiked by $45 billion from the first to the second quarter—up 4.6% to stand at $1.03 trillion.

    ING also estimates that of the $2.3 trillion saved during the pandemic, $1.3 trillion has been spent—add that to the volume of credit card debt consumers have now racked up, and the household financial surpluses that were created during the pandemic are now running dry.

    Knightley writes that by Q2 2024 the entirety of households’ pandemic war chests will be spent, and added: “Credit card borrowing costs are the highest since records began in 1972 so there is going to be a lot of pain out there.”

    And families that may be planning to continue running up debt might soon get ‘no’ as an answer.

    “With banks far more reluctant to provide unsecured consumer credit, based on the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion survey, the clear threat is that many struggling households may soon find their credit cards are being maxed out and they can’t obtain more credit,” Knightley wrote. “With student loan repayments restarting, we expect consumer spending to slow meaningfully from late fourth quarter onwards and turn negative in early 2024.”

    1. 8 Signs That We Are Right On The Verge Of A Major Credit Card Debt Crisis

      https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/8-signs-we-are-right-verge-major-credit-card-debt-crisis

      We aren’t quite there yet, but an enormous credit card debt crisis is definitely brewing.

      Americans are becoming increasingly dependent on their credit cards to make ends meet from month to month, the percentage of us that are carrying balances from month to month is growing, and the average rate of interest on such balances has risen above 20 percent. If you can possibly avoid it, do not carry credit card balances from month to month, because that will strangle you financially. Unfortunately, our young people are never taught this in school, and so many of them get into deep financial trouble when they become adults. And once you get into deep financial trouble, it can take many years to get out of it.

      In all my years, I have never seen numbers like we are witnessing right now.

      The following are 8 signs that we are right on the verge of a major credit card debt crisis…

      #1 The total amount of credit card debt in the United States has surpassed the one trillion dollar mark and is now at the highest level ever recorded…

      The New York Federal Reserve reported earlier in August that total credit card debt surged to $1.03 trillion during the three-month period from April to June, an increase of $45 billion – or 4.6% – from the previous quarter. It marks the highest level on record in Fed data dating back to 2003.

      #2 The average rate of interest on credit card balances has now risen to a new all-time record high of 20.63 percent…

      The dual increase in credit card usage and delinquency rates is particularly concerning because interest rates are astronomically high right now. The average credit card annual percentage rate, or APR, hit a new record of 20.63% last week, according to a Bankrate database that goes back to 1985.

      #3 A whopping 47 percent of all U.S. cardholders are now carrying balances from month to month…

      Many cardholders from all age and income groups are carrying over credit card balances, with 47 percent saying they do so — up from 39 percent in December 2021 — the survey (carried out in July) finds. Agewise, 53 percent of Gen Xers carryover card balances from month to month. Next were Gen Z consumers (52 percent) followed by millennials, (49 percent) and baby boomers (41 percent).

      #4 The average credit card debt level in the United States just continues to grow…

      The national average credit card debt grew to $7,227, according to the survey.

      However, U.S. consumers in some states held more debt than others. Connecticut’s residents had the highest average debt level of $9,408, surpassing the national average by 30%, according to the survey. Right behind it were credit card holders in New York, registering the second-highest average debt of $9,165.

      #5 Most Americans are not running up credit card debt because they are making frivolous purchases. According to one industry insider, most Americans are doing it “because they are under financial strain”…

      Bankrate.com analyst Greg McBride said that “people aren’t financing purchases at 20% because everything is going swimmingly. They’re doing so because they are under financial strain.

      #6 The number of credit card delinquencies in the U.S. has surged dramatically over the past two years…

      The rising number of delinquent accounts also indicates people are having a hard time keeping up with credit card payments. The number of accounts past due by one cycle has increased 42.6% over the last two years. Delinquencies have crept up to the highest level since 2017.

      #7 One recent survey discovered that many Americans that actually use personal loans to consolidate credit card debt end up quickly running up new credit card balances close to their previous levels…

      A survey conducted by TransUnion between April 2021 and September 2022 found that borrowers who used a personal loan to consolidate their credit card debt saw their balances decrease by 57% on average, but for many, those balances returned close to their previous levels 18 months later.

      #8 At a time when economic conditions are slowing down all over the nation, Americans are becoming increasingly dependent on their credit cards…

      In fact, two in five Americans with credit cards said they were more dependent on their credit cards than ever before, the survey found. And 35% said they won’t be able to pay off their credit card debt before the end of the year. In addition, another 35% of respondents said they’d likely max out at least one credit card by the end of 2023.

      “This increased reliance on credit cards is likely to lead many even deeper into debt – which is especially troublesome with interest rates well into the double digits,” Quicken said in its report.

      Unfortunately, a lot more Americans are likely to get into credit card trouble in the months ahead, because the labor market is getting significantly tighter.

      In fact, we just got some new numbers that have created quite a bit of alarm…

      With consensus expecting only a modest drop in the July job openings from 9.582 million to 9.5 million, what the BLS reported instead was a doozy: in July there were just 8.827 million job openings, the first sub-9 million print since March 2021. It was also the 3rd biggest miss on record!

      Worse, had the BLS not drastically slashed the May number from 9.582MM to a laughable 9.165MM, the drop would have been almost 800K job openings. And yes, today’s downward revision…

      … continues the recent trend of every single data point in the Biden administration being revised sharply lower in subsequent month(s), in a coordinated propaganda attempt to make the economy look stronger, then quietly revise it away when everyone forgets.

      The economy is clearly headed for a very rough period, and the long-term outlook is even worse.

      So now is not the time to pile on more debt.

      Instead, now is a time to batten down the hatches.

      I would very much encourage you to get “lean and mean” financially, because those that are carrying high levels of debt are likely to experience a lot of pain during the stressful years ahead.

      1. (Some credit card humor I plagiarized from the internet …)

        Police: Why didn’t you report your stolen credit card?

        Man: The thief was spending less than my wife.

        Police: Then why are you reporting it now?

        Man: I think now the thief’s wife has started using it!

        1. (More plagiarized humor shamelessly pilfered from the internet …)

          “I’m not one to brag about my financial skills, but my credit card company calls me almost every day to tell me my balance is outstanding.”

          I need everyone to wish me luck.
          I have a meeting at the bank later and if all goes well,
          I will be out of debt.
          I’m so excited I can barely put on my ski mask.

      2. average credit card debt grew to $7,227

        That means there’s a guy out there with $14,454. Woe to those who have piled up high interest debt.

    2. “American families may soon max out their credit cards, top analyst warns, and be hung out to dry”

      But the limits will be quietly increased as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach for those who consistently make their minimum payments.

  19. A reader sent these in:

    And in certain markets, the vacancy index is currently setting new records. Take a look at what’s been happening in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Colorado Springs:

    https://twitter.com/IAPopov/status/1696685473056624989

    Our full @LinkedIn Workforce Report comes out next week, but here’s what our data says happened in August: 1/ US hiring fell by 3.6% M/M (SA). We’d seen signs of stabilization in the spring, but over the past 3 months this metric has resumed moving in a negative direction.

    https://twitter.com/EconBerger/status/1697236171460600096

    Delinquencies are going higher.

    More Americans are falling behind on their car loan and credit card payments than at any time in more than a decade, a troubling signal of consumer stress as higher prices and rising borrowing costs are squeezing household budgets.

    The pain is most acute for lower-income earners, who have largely used whatever they managed to save during the pandemic with the help of government stimulus checks and breaks on obligations such as rent and student loans.

    “The increase in delinquencies and defaults is symptomatic of the tough decisions that these households are having to make right now — whether to pay their credit card bills, their rent or buy groceries,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

    “The Fed might look at this and say this is the whole purpose of raising rates, to make it more difficult” to make purchases, he said. “The bigger question is when the Fed will have succeeded in slowing down the broader economy, and how many consumers have to be impacted in a negative way.”

    Another red flag: Shoppers are turning to buy now, pay later services to cover necessities such as groceries. Usage surged 40 percent in the first two months of 2023, according to data from Adobe Analytics.

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1697267149432037504

    Just doing a little quick shopping for thousands of dollars worth of power tools from Home Depot in California 🚨🚨🚨 🔊 Don’t be surprised when all of these stores close.

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1697069408139530326

    My finance and I combined make what I would consider a good salary. 10 years ago I would have thought if I make this much money, I have made it in life.” 🔊 “We make more money now than we have ever made and we are the brokest we have ever been.” “We can’t get a house. In New Jersey, if we want any chance of buying a house, we need $100,000 cash for a down payment”. “I am so disgusted with the way things are going in this country. I am starting to feel hopeless.”

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1697402907031691311

    Can everyone agree that Senators Mitch McConnell and Diane Feinstein both need to retire? There are probably another 20-30 in the Senate and House in the same condition. Enough already. They don’t need to stay there forever. Go hang out with your grandchildren. They are not in the mental condition to be making national policy.

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1697364503346729333

    “I live in Ontario, Canada and I just paid $20 for a tiny little bag of grapes” 🔊 “I don’t know what’s happening with our country but it’s rapidly declining” ⚠️⚠️⚠️ “If you live in Canada you live to work and pay bills and pay taxes … so yeah, I wanna leave and I don’t know where to go”

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1697324035548275005

    This is why Rich Men North of Richmond shot to the top of the charts overnight ⬇️ Americans across the nation are in economic pain
    People are having fewer children than ever, they own less than ever before, and they’re working more than ever before
    Something needs to change fast & the facade of Republicans vs Democrats is impeding this change.

    https://twitter.com/stclairashley/status/1697332269931733309

    I messed up financially by not purchasing a house in 1987 before I was born. 🥲

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1697442476632457398

    The mortgage payment needed to buy the median priced home for sale in the US has moved up to $2,649, a new all-time high.

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1697294140046766130

    72 out of the 100 largest cities in the US had negative rent growth over the past year.

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1696991553800024148

    1. “We make more money now than we have ever made and we are the brokest we have ever been.” “We can’t get a house. In New Jersey, if we want any chance of buying a house, we need $100,000 cash for a down payment”.

      Count your blessings. If you had bought a home you’d even be more broke and tied to a sinking asset.

    2. Anyone else notice that these ‘content creators’ often sit in their car staring off camera? What’s with that?

      1. It is the “copycat meme”. All these YT creators jump on anything new that gets at lot of views. For example, videos on how machines work, manufacturing, even cleaning storm water drains. If some one comes up with an original short clip, and gets 500k views, then others plagiarize and pilfer content and make up new videos. Maybe the education system is to be blamed.

        Btw, I use uBlock origin on my firefox browser when watching yt. No-ads is great. You can use it on all popular browsers, including chrome and edge.

      2. I don’t mean to downplay the real frustrations of honest gen Z folks that just wanted to air them to make others aware. However, with both trade school route and the college route (even STEM), one has to acquire real skills – the ability to do things – and be efficient in doing them to get and hold on to a good job. A lot of people with college degrees have marginal skills. I advise my nephews and nieces to be in the top 10% of their class. Luckily, all except 2 are listening, thus far.

        1. “…the real frustrations of honest gen Z folks…”

          I have two, and they’re frustrated, but neither have any debt. I’ve seen to that.

    4. We make more money now than we have ever made and we are the brokest we have ever been.

      I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess:
      -two $1000+ per month vehicles.
      -expensive cosmetics
      -expensive clothes
      -nails are done frequently. Hair too.
      -eat out a lot

      Or as my late father used to say: money burns a hole in their pockets.

    5. “I live in Ontario, Canada and I just paid $20 for a tiny little bag of grapes”

      S#cks to live in Canaduh

    1. That’s a great chart. It shows at a glance that real estate investing is in the early stages of a deeper downturn than in the 2007-2009 Great Financial Crisis. The less astute members of the real estate investing tribe who don’t act quickly to dump their HODLings are in line for massive losses ahead.

    1. #DoNotComply

      Anybody tells me to wear a mask, I’ll tell them why don’t you pull your mask down and go svck on Michelle Obama’s ****.

        1. I did the polite and simple “no” thing in 2020 and then it continued into 2021 and got worse. And then they wanted me fired and actually dead.

          So no, a simple and polite “no” does not in fact suffice.

          I hope they all take their boosters and such and honestly I hope they all die. every single one of them. By their failure to stand up when it counted, now it’s going to get ugly. I didn’t choose this path, they did.

    1. China
      China’s population shrinks for the first time in six decades

      China’s population started shrinking in 2022 for the first time in 60 years, another sign of a worsening demographic crisis for the world’s second-largest economy. It is underlined by the falling number of births and a rapidly ageing population, one of the most serious challenges the country faces.
      …
      https://www.scmp.com/photos/china/3232945/chinas-population-shrinks-first-time-six-decades

    2. Is China’s economy about to go bust?
      31 Aug 2023|David Uren

      Australia is more exposed to a downturn in the Chinese economy than any other advanced country. So far, however, commodity markets provide no evidence of a Chinese recession around the corner.

      The spate of gloomy commentary about the Chinese economy in the Western media reflects real concerns, but markets are not behaving as if the world’s second largest economy is on the cusp of its ‘Lehmann Brothers moment’.

      China’s demand for iron ore—the key ingredient of its industrialisation and Australia’s most vital economic interest in the country—remains as strong as ever. In a column in the Financial Times, Louis-Vincent Gave, the chief executive of the China-focused economic consultancy Gavekal, noted that iron ore prices have risen by 50% from their low point last October and have rallied in recent weeks, even as the chorus of Western commentary about a Chinese downturn has grown louder.

      The current price of US$108 a tonne compares with a low of less than US$40 the last time China faced an economic downturn, in late 2015.

      Gave says that if a financial crisis were imminent, you would expect to see it reflected in bank shares, as occurred ahead of the Lehmann Brothers collapse and the European banking crisis a few years later. However, China’s bank shares have actually performed 12.6% better than US bank shares over the past 12 months.

      He noted that Chinese government bond markets have also outperformed the traditional safe haven for nervous investors: US Treasury bonds.

      China is certainly facing difficulties, but it is not yet obvious that they add up to the inevitable downfall of an economy driven by an authoritarian government, as argued by Adam Posen, the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs.

      Posen says China’s problems under Xi Jinping are no different to Venezuela’s problems under Nicolas Maduro, Turkey’s under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hungary’s under Victor Orban or Russia’s under Vladimir Putin.

      ‘China’s political economy under Xi has finally succumbed to a familiar pattern among autocratic regimes. They tend to start out on a “no politics, no problem” compact that promises business as usual for those who keep their heads down. But by their second or, more commonly, third term in office, rulers increasingly disregard commercial concerns and pursue interventionist policies whenever it suits their short-term goals,’ Posen writes.

      ‘What remains today is widespread fear not seen since the days of Mao—fear of losing one’s property or livelihood, whether temporarily or forever, without warning and without appeal.’
      …
      https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/is-chinas-economy-about-to-go-bust/

        1. no evidence

          I’m finding that people outside the legal profession seem to think that evidence must be conclusive on its own in order to be evidence, which is not the case.

    3. China Economy
      China’s too-big-to-fail property giants just the tip of real estate crisis, as ‘suppliers are being dragged to death’

      – Indebted property developers such as Evergrande and Country Garden owe millions to small companies and their workers, showing how far-reaching the impact has become

      – Millions of homebuyers who pre-bought property have little recourse but to wait for a turnaround, and industry insiders say the onus is on Beijing to act

      China property
      He Huifeng in Guangdong
      Published: 6:00am, 30 Aug, 2023
      …
      https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3232716/chinas-too-big-fail-property-giants-just-tip-real-estate-crisis-suppliers-are-being-dragged-death

  24. Wokeism Inc.

    Employees who have immediate family members who seek gender-affirming care but are similarly restricted also have access to the benefit, Indeed said.

    https://www.hrdive.com/news/indeed-offers-10k-gender-affirming-care-relocation-benefit/692466/

    Ford is retiring three internal combustion engine models – the Escape, Edge and Transit Connect – to make room for new electric vehicles.

    https://www.thestreet.com/automotive/ford-retires-gas-powered-cars-in-electric-vehicle-expansion

    2. Skyrocketing CAFE numbers are forcing automakers into making EVs that nobody wants. In 3-4 more years there will be fewer new ICE models left. By 2026 the average car will need to meet 40 MPG.

      1. By 2026 the average car will need to meet 40 MPG.

        Makes me wonder if I should pull the trigger and get an ICE manual car before they are near impossible to find.

        1. I do think that the purpose of the ridiculous CAFE numbers is to make car ownership unobtainable for the masses. Part two will be to mandate that existing ICE cars meet their emissions perfectly, requiring expensive repairs to keep them compliant. Bye bye beaters.

          Remember, they don’t want you to have a car.

  26. The housing market’s inventory crunch deepens as listings fall for the 4th straight month in August
    Phil Rosen
    Aug 31, 2023, 6:27 AM PDT
    An above shot of houses, yards, and streets.
    US housing market adamkaz/Getty Images

    – August data from Realtor.com showed US housing inventory remains tight.

    – The total number of homes for sale dipped by 9.2% from a year ago, the fourth consecutive month of annual declines.

    – But total inventory has been rising on a monthly basis and is up 19% since January.
    …
    https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/housing-market-inventory-crunch-home-listings-august-prices-mortgage-rates-2023-8

  27. The UN is a warped Cult of weirdos that want to hijack children and brainwash and groom them into their socially engineered lab rats.
    Parents are responsible for their children until they are 18 for starters.
    Parents have the right to protect their Children , give their values to children, as parents are also financially responsible for their welfare. It cost 250 thousand to bring a child to adulthood and more if they go to college.
    To suggest that you divide parents from their own children , for a division of ” children’s rights” is just another divide and conquer strategy.
    Its a attack on the family structure by these
    control freaks that want to own children to program them into groomed drones for the State.
    The end game objective is no individuals, sexed out, over drugged mindless drones for the STATE.
    Everything about the new insane ideologies coming from the top down Power Brokers is to break the spirit of humans into mindless , hacked and controlled slaves and get them while they are young.
    But, the Masters of the Universe want to use artificial intelligence and robots as the new replacement for the human species, not a tool to enhance human life , but to limit human expression.
    Humans are just diseased, useless eaters, that emit CO2 carbons that earth has to be saved from. “Lets them eat bugs and fake food”, is such a telling exposure that they think your like a bug that needs to be sprayed.
    Trust the Science, is the new religion , and submit to human enslavement by Science.
    Going after the children for early programming is the clear intent by these masters of the One World Order.

    1. Going after the children for early programming is the clear intent by these masters of the One World Order.

      The sad thing is, far too many “progressive” parents are the globalists’ eager accessories in foisting this evil onto their children.

      2. Remember how Hitler went after the children to brainwash them to turn in their parents if they weren’t good Nazis.
        They want programmed drones, not individuals that won’t comply.
        Schools have been inflitrated by this.agenda, making schools unsafe places for children. Higher education is nothing but a indoctrination zone to create useless social justice warriors, marching to their own enslavement.

      3. ‘Going after the children for early programming is the clear intent’

        The intent is marxist: break down society. Going after children also shocks and demoralizes normal people. Anything to destabilize. Look at how people got worked up cuz “they” are going to make you wear a mouth hankey again! Nobody ever made you wear one in the first place. It was mass formation psychosis, remember?

        1. Nobody ever made you wear one in the first place.

          I remember in the early days WalMart and other stores wouldn’t let you enter unless you had a face diaper. The local WalMart actually had a bouncer. But after a few weeks he was gone.

  28. Biden Press Secretary pushing new Covid Vaccines coming out mid September.
    Did you know no trials, not even a animal trial was done on these.
    So, the new normal is that this expiermental vaccine is just thrown out, marketed as safe and effective, without any tests. Just lovely

    1. without any tests

      Actually I think tests were done on this novel “technology” for a decade pre Covid. All the rats died. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.

      1. Nope, you’re not wrong.

        Every time they tested mRNA style shots, the entire animal testing cohort died. Good thing nobody was allowed to bring that up before Jan 21 or so huh?

        1. It was coronavirus vaccines before the use of genetic delivery systems that killed animals. Independently, the mRNA delivery technology had significant scientific challenges. Moderna had to pivot from therapeutics to vaccines because the mRNA delivery system wasn’t tolerated well on repeated doses.

          Dr. Peter Hotez: “We tried to create coronavirus vaccine ten years ago” (4m02s)

          From September 2018, Can mRNA disrupt the drug industry?
          Messenger RNA technology promises to turn our bodies into medicine-making factories. But first Moderna—and a long list of old and new competitors—needs to overcome some major scientific challenges

          1. It was coronavirus vaccines before the use of genetic delivery systems that killed animals.

            Remember, they didn’t do animal studies for the COVID jabs.

        3. People mistakenly conflate the issues because they don’t understand that the COVID jabs comprise a myriad of technologies. As a practicing patent attorney, it was my job to understand the origin and corresponding patent protection for each technology.

      1. The CDC has stated that getting vaxxed makes you more likely to get infected! Many will ignore this slip of the tongue (pen).

        I got a tremendous laugh out of our Oval Office Place Holder stating that we will have a “new vaccine that works”. Youbetcha!

        1. Catching the current Covid variant is WAY down on the list of things I worry about. I had it once and it wasn’t the end of the world.

  30. CHART OF THE DAY: US Treasurys are on track for their longest stretch of losses since 1787
    Matthew Fox
    Sep 1, 2023, 8:57 AM PDT
    US Treasurys
    Bank of America

    – The 10-year US Treasury bond is on track to suffer three consecutive years of losses.

    – A back-to-back-to-back slump would represent the longest stretch of losses since 1787, according to Bank of America.

    – The decline comes after US Treasury bonds suffered their worst annual loss since 1788.
    …
    https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/bonds/chart-of-the-day-us-treasurys-1787-longest-stretch-losses-2023-9

    1. Higher interest rates are great news for savers. For degenerate debt donkeys, not so much. Remember, all those who borrowed big to get ahead, you impoverished your more honest neighbors for many years.

      Enjoy!

  31. Wall of Corporate Debt to Spark Recession in 2024, Fidelity International Says

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-corporate-debt-spark-recession-143547326.html

    (Bloomberg) — Fidelity International’s Salman Ahmed is sticking by his call for a recession even as Wall Street ups wagers that the Federal Reserve has navigated the US economy toward a soft landing.

    Expect the full effects of the central bank’s monetary policy tightening — and a downturn — to materialize next year following a wave of corporate debt refinancing over the next six months, according to Ahmed, the firm’s global head of macro and strategic asset allocation.

    “The end point of the cycle is recession, because the transmission channel will kick in,” he said in an interview. “If the Fed doesn’t back off at some point, everybody has to pay these higher real rates.”

    After the easy-money years of the pandemic left corporations with a slew of debt maturing in a new era of higher rates, the lagged effects of the central bank’s tightening will be what finally pushes the economy over the edge, said Ahmed who contributes to asset allocation strategy for Fidelity’s $47 billion multi-asset business.

    Higher debt-servicing costs tend to reduce the firepower companies have to invest and pay workers, other things being equal. Rich stock valuations and tight credit spreads are a sign that the coming downturn is not yet fully priced into markets.

    “Borrowers are not feeling the full pressure of the interest rate because they are sitting on locked rates, which is not a permanent phenomenon,” he said. “A company which financed itself at 2, 3, 4% is going to be financing at 10, 11, 12% now. That’s a huge shock.”

    To prepare for the wall of refinancings hitting in early 2024, Fidelity International has upgraded their weighting on cash to overweight after being neutral for the last two months. They remain underweight stocks, are overweight investment-grade credit over high yield, and moved their overweight on government bonds to neutral for the month of September.

    Ahmed’s glum forecast comes as many economists on Wall Street are scrapping their calls for a recession.

    To him, the strength of the economy in the face of higher interest rates is a sign that the lagged effects of monetary policy are still working their way through the system, not a precursor of a soft-landing.

    While the surprising resilience of the American consumer and labor market has forced Ahmed to push his estimates for the coming economic slump into next year and lowered his team’s odds of a recession from 80% to 60%, a downturn remains Ahmed’s base case.

    His reasoning is backed up by a recent study from a group of Fed officials. Historically, it takes about a year for companies to feel the full effects of interest rate hikes that have already occurred, regardless of future rate increases, the report found.

    What Bloomberg Economics Says…

    If the long and variable lags of past rate hikes hit the economy toward the end of this year — when Bloomberg Economics forecasts a recession — the argument that the neutral rate is low could gain traction.

    Given our forecast for weakness in the US economy toward year-end, we expect the FOMC to stay on hold for the rest of 2023.

    —Anna Wong, chief US economist

    Signs of cooling in the economy are emerging with consumer confidence hitting its lowest level since 2021. Data on Friday showed US employers hired at a firm pace in August while wage growth slowed, spurring bets the Fed may be done hiking interest rates further.

  32. Investors lower outlook for consumers as student loans, credit card debts pile up

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/investors-lower-outlook-consumers-student-101310432.html

    NEW YORK (Reuters) – Signs of rising consumer stress are prompting some fund managers to grow more conservative in their outlooks, even as the broad stock market continues to rally.

    While unemployment remains near historic lows, the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting interest rate hikes are starting to weigh on households.

    Consumer confidence fell more than expected in August, while delinquency rates among credit cards issued by smaller banks are the highest on record, according to data from the Apollo Group.

    Department store Nordstrom said last week that delinquencies on its store cards are now higher than pre-pandemic levels. Rival Macy’s said it expects late payments to reduce credit-card revenues by 41% from the previous quarter.

    Payments on approximately $1.1 trillion of federal student loans will resume in October, potentially setting consumers up for a “payment shock” of $500 or more each month, according to a study by TransUnion.

    “The U.S. consumer is on thin ice coming into the final stretch of 2023,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. She is more bullish on bonds and defensive sectors like healthcare ahead of the fourth-quarter holiday shopping season.

    The U.S. economy added 187,000 non-farm jobs in August, slightly above expectations, while the unemployment rate rose to 3.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The government significantly lowered its previously reported estimates for job growth for June and July.

    Further declines in the labor market will likely act as a double-edged sword for investors, relieving some inflation pressures while weighing on consumer spending.

    Overall consumer spending rose slightly more than expected in August, while the savings rate fell to its lowest since November 2022, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

    Consumers will “very soon” exhaust their excess savings built up during the pandemic, said Jake Jolly, senior investment strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management, who is underweight equities and expects that the U.S. economy is on the path toward a recession.

    “It does beg the question of how long consumer spending can surprise to the upside,” he said, adding that bonds continue to look more appealing, given a rise in yields that has pushed the 10-year Treasury yield above 4%.

    Overall, consumer spending growth will fall from 2.3% in 2023 to 0.9% in 2024, said Gregory Daco, chief economist at accounting giant Ernst & Young, due to higher interest charges, fewer available savings and student loan payments. He said the economy will post below-trend growth for several quarters.

    Investors will receive an updated view of consumer credit usage and a reading of the ISM services sector, which accounts for two-thirds of the economy, next week.

    Betting against the consumer spending has so far been a losing wager. The US economy continues to grow at what the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimates is an annualized 5.9% rate in the third quarter.

    Interest rates are likely to fall over the fourth quarter of the year and into 2024 as inflation fears ebb, providing some cushion for consumers, said Jason Draho, head of asset allocation Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, who expects investors to buy into any dips in consumer stocks.

    “The US consumer, and therefore the economy, should remain fairly resilient well into 2024,” he said.

    The consumer discretionary sector, which includes stocks like Amazon.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Chipotle Mexican Grill, is up nearly 34% for the year to date, nearly double the gain of the S&P 500 index as a whole.

    Yet the sector has lagged lately, gaining less than 1% since July 1 while the S&P 500 is up nearly 2% over the same time.

    Even if consumer spending does fall significantly, the strong rally in the sector will likely wane as the tech-driven broader market slows over the fourth quarter, said Sandy Villere, a portfolio manager at Villere & Co.

    As a result, Villere is building up his positions in defensive sectors such as healthcare that have not lagged.

    “We think it’s premature to move away from the consumer now, but we can see a recession hitting in the first quarter as the Fed’s rate hikes start to kick in,” he said.

  33. I see what you did there, Biden regime. Release falsified economic data to juice the market algos, then quietly revise these fake, Soviet-style statistics sharply downward once the retail investor muppets have piled into the rigged casino.

  35. ‘A gaping void of demand and falling house prices have left the wealthy with no mortgages to fill their boots’

    That could have been a good title.

  36. Bill Gates to fund Climate Change measures by chopping down trees and burying them.
    So , why is this Bill Gates involved in everything. He’s involved in releasing mosquitos, global vaccination, blocking out the Sun , sucking up the Co2, funding the WHO, millions given to the media, bug and fake food development, buying up farm land, and Gods knows what else.
    So all you have to be is a rich guy with a foundation and you get to dictate all these policies?
    Bill gates smiles and smirks at very weird statements, and can always predict pandemics way ahead of time. He’s always involved with simulations of disasters.
    What’s with this guy ?

      1. There’s a trend amongst celebrities to claim autism in an attempt to excuse their sociopathy. It’s awfully convenient that they don’t exhibit the very real negative traits of the disorder.

        1. very real negative traits

          Repetitive behaviors as well as sensory processing and communication difficulties.

  37. ‘The rout has wiped out $135.5 billion of value from $154.9 billion of outstanding notes’

    Fook the gringo is almost complete.

  38. Does it seem like corporate vultures are circling overhead the dying real estate investors below, long before the bottom of the CR8R has been reached?

    I wonder if the Fed will hand out bailout moneys again to big playas like last time, enabling them to snap up deals at firesale prices after the financial tsunami levels the little people on Main Street?

    1. It’s not just about ‘location, location, location’ anymore – housing market priorities have shifted
      Filip De Mott
      Sep 1, 2023, 9:08 AM PDT
      An aerial view of the suburbs in Las Vegas, Nevada
      Corporate landlords are betting that they’ll be able to get better deals later this year when prices fall.
      Angel Jiménez de Luis/Getty Images

      – The mantra in real estate has long been “location, location, location,” but that may be changing.

      – A home’s neighborhood is no longer the top priority for house hunters, a Fannie Mae survey found.

      – Instead, affordability is now the biggest consideration, as prices and mortgage rates remain high.
      …
      https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/housing-market-affordability-location-renter-homeowner-remote-work-fannie-mae-2023-9

      1. “The mantra in real estate has long been “location, location, location,” but that may be changing.”

        The earliest humans discovered that:
        location^3 = value

      2. – A home’s neighborhood is no longer the top priority for house hunters, a Fannie Mae survey found.

        Yeah, no way I’m buying into a poor neighborhood. Many of the people there, I assume, are good people, but I don’t want to deal with the nonsense.

        1. Better to buy the worst house in the best neighborhood than the best house in the worst neighborhood.

    2. REAL ESTATE
      Home prices may be on the verge of cooling off
      PUBLISHED FRI, SEP 1 2023 1:10 PM EDT
      UPDATED FRI, SEP 1 2023 2:03 PM EDT
      Diana Olick

      KEY POINTS

      – Home prices in July were 2.3% higher than the same month last year, but the monthly gain was lower than historical averages.

      – Mortgage rates remain stubbornly above 7%.

      – New listings rose from July to August, atypical for that period of the year.
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/01/home-prices-rise-in-july-but-may-be-on-the-verge-of-cooling-off.html

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