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Go In Low, Put In A Cheeky Offer, If You’re Not Embarrassed You Are Probably Too High

A report from Realtor.com. “Following a trade to the Lone Star State before the 2023 NFL season, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance is ready to move on from his Morgan Hill, CA, mansion. The signal caller bought the place in the suburbs south of San Jose for $2.95 million in March 22, and he recently listed it for $2.8 million. So, he’s willing to take a slight loss to put his Bay Area stint behind him.”

The Real Deal. “TA Partners flew beneath the radar for most of its history. But that changed in early October when it defaulted on $200 million of debt tied to two multifamily projects near Irvine, California. It also has $2 billion in assets and 2,700 units on the way in the LA-area. But, the developer has struggled to move the needle on many of those apartment projects, raising questions about its ability to pull off such ambitious projects. In Irvine, TA is delinquent on payments totaling $11 million under two separate loans as of Oct. 1, according to two notices of default filed with Orange County. The loans are tied to two complexes at 18831 Von Karman Avenue and 17422 Derian Avenue.”

“‘They have no idea what they are doing,’ said one industry insider familiar with TA Partners, adding the two Irvine projects are a ‘total disaster.’ To add a little mystery to the market, Blackstone Mortgage Trust downgraded two of its loans tied to office buildings in Silicon Valley. The unit of New York-based investment firm Blackstone downgraded the loans linked to two undisclosed office buildings in the South Bay, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.”

The Fort Worth Report. “Did Dallas-Fort Worth home prices gradually fall in summer 2023? Yes. Between July and September, the median home in North Texas cost $400,000 — a 1.2% drop from the same time last year, according to a Texas Realtors report. Home prices decreased more steeply in Austin, where the median fell by 7.9% to $456,000. Trends in Houston, where home prices dropped by 1.1%, more closely match Dallas-Fort Worth. Dallas-Fort Worth led the state in home sales during the third quarter, though total transactions were down 9.3% in comparison to 2022. Housing affordability is declining in Texas cities, with incomes increasing at a slower pace than housing costs. Over the past decade, Dallas-Fort Worth incomes have risen 45% while the median home price has more than doubled, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis. This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “3600 15A St., S.W., No. 119, Calgary. Asking price: $289,000 (August, 2023). Selling price: $279,000 (August, 2023). Previous selling prices: $315,000 (July, 2015); $310,000 (March, 2007); $185,869 (May, 2004). Early last year, agent Bryon Howard discouraged his client from listing this two-bedroom, corner unit until market conditions improved. His stance changed this summer, having seen three units in the 18-year-old building sell for increasing amounts, including one for as much as $295,000. Setting their price lower at $289,000, the seller was pleased to negotiate a conditional deal with a buyer for $10,000 under asking.”

“‘Most people who bought in that building bought during the last [market] high, so they weren’t able to sell without losing money,’ said Mr. Howard. ‘There haven’t been a lot of sales in the building from 2016 to 2021. The seller was extremely happy selling the property for the price he got because it wasn’t that long ago, he would have been looking at selling for $230,000 or $240,000.'”

The Toronto Sun in Canada. “For those living through it, the recalibration of a real estate market can be painful. With home prices and property values in decline, GTA homeowners will almost invariably have seen the value of what is likely to their largest asset diminish from the market peak of 2022. Whether real (as in, the house was purchased around the peak and that homeowner now has a home worth less than they paid) or imagined (as in, the house was purchased long ago for a fraction of current value but would no longer fetch what it might have just 18 months ago), the impacts will be felt market-wide. Consequently, a frequent conversation I am having these days is what a homeowner might do to add value to their home and offset some of those losses.”

“Simply put, the idea is to make a property appeal to the broadest swath of prospective buyers. The sellers taking haircuts right now are those with overpriced properties that are either unattractive, unremarkable, or seem like too much work. The properties that are selling offer a clear value proposition – good market or bad market, that will always be the case.”

The Bolton News in the UK. “Mortgage approvals are down, houses are on the market at ‘unrealistic’ prices seen during the ‘peak Covid-era’ – but it is not all doom and gloom, according to one estate agent. David Warburton at Burton James told The Bolton News: ‘This information is not to paint doom and gloom because houses are still selling, contrary to some negative reports. But now more than ever, your marketing has to stand out and you need to price according to this new market.’ The estate agent said the number of unsold houses were ‘highly unlikely’ to sell if they not priced to reflect the current market, hence buyers seeing ‘price reduced’ a number of times. Prices have begun to decline in areas like Bolton and Bury, said David.”

“He added: ‘Between January 2020 and December 2022—often referred to as the ‘Covid years’—official Land Registry data reveals a staggering 36 per cent price increase across Bolton. To contextualise this surge: between January 2010 and December 2019, prices in Bolton only rose by 24 per cent, averaging 2.4 per cent annually. This means that in just three years, prices escalated at five times the annual rate of the preceding decade. Therefore, the recent price reduction is better understood as a market correction rather than a crash, contrary to some media portrayals.'”

“David said: ‘However, the landscape is shifting. With 14 consecutive interest rate hikes taking the current rate to 5.25 per cent, many homeowners who purchased properties in the last three years will soon face significantly higher repayments. While some will adjust or endure, others, unfortunately, will struggle and feel compelled to sell—sometimes at a loss.'”

This Is Money. “Cash buyers are swooping in amid the housing market downturn, new figures suggest. Bank of England data revealed mortgage borrowing for house purchases continued to fall in September, with activity down by more than a third compared with the same period in 2022. In some sense, now is a great time to be a cash buyer. Homes are sitting on the market for longer meaning some sellers may feel increasingly desperate and more willing to consider lower offers. Another sign of a struggling housing market is the fact that sellers are having to slash asking prices in order to find a buyer. According to Hamptons, 53 per cent of homes that sold last month had required the asking price to be slashed prior to sale.”

“Stuart Cheetham, chief executive of MPowered Mortgages believes that if you’re not embarrassed by your offer, it’s probably not low enough. He says: ‘Go in low, put in a cheeky offer, why not. Do your research on the property and area. Find out how long it has been on the market, find out the situation of the buyer, quiz your estate agent. They key is do your homework and don’t be embarrassed with a ‘cheeky’ offer, in fact if you’re not embarrassed you are probably too high.'”

The Irish News. “Despite falling costs, builders in the UK had one of their worst months in over three years in October, according to new data from a monthly survey. It is the second-worst month for the sector since May 2020, in the early days of the pandemic lockdown. Companies told the survey team that they were not getting enough new work to replace the projects that they had completed. The pessimism in the sector comes despite costs falling at their fastest rate since August 2009. ‘House building decreased for the eleventh month running and once again saw a much steeper downturn than other parts of the construction sector,’ said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.”

From Bloomberg. “Sweden’s economy is set to continue shrinking next year as it is further tested by interest rates staying higher for longer, according to economists at SEB AB and Nordea Bank Abp. The Scandinavian country faces some of the bleakest prospects in the European Union with forecasters increasingly anticipating a two-year recession, even as the export-driven nation has withstood a rapid increase of borrowing costs better than many had expected. SEB’s Olle Holmgren said the downturn is mainly driven by residential investment and household consumption, as housing starts have plummeted by 70-75% from a peak in late 2021. As third-quarter reports from companies imply that the number of new dwellings started continued to drop in three months through September, ‘residential construction risks coming to an almost complete standstill,’ he said.”

“The sharp downturn in home construction comes as developers and prospective buyers have seen credit become more expensive, and housing prices have dropped almost 15% from a peak in early 2022. Nordea believes the prices of apartments and houses will decline by another 5-10%.”

From Reuters. “Germany’s residential construction sector was again hit by a wave of cancellations in October, according to a survey published on Monday that showed a record number of firms reporting abandoned projects. In October, 22.2% percent of companies reported cancelled projects, up from 21.4% the previous month, the Ifo economic institute said. ‘It’s getting worse all the time, with more and more projects failing due to higher interest rates and elevated construction prices,’ says Klaus Wohlrabe, Ifo head of surveys. ‘In residential construction, new business remains very low and companies’ order backlogs are diminishing.'”

“‘Nearly half of all residential construction companies are now suffering from a lack of orders, and that number is growing every month,’ said Wohlrabe. The real-estate sector was a bedrock of Germany’s livelihood for years. Fuelled by low interest rates, billions were funnelled into property, which was viewed as stable and safe. Now a sharp rise in rates and building costs has put an end to the run, tipping developers into insolvency as bank financing dries up, deals freeze and prices fall.”

Domain News in Australia. “Popular coastal towns that boomed during the lockdown years have recorded double-digit house price falls as buyers face interest rate rises and stretched affordability. But the pace of decline is starting to ease. House prices fell most in the regional council of Lismore, where unprecedented floods struck last year, declining 20.8 per cent to a median of $515,000 in the September quarter, the latest Domain House Price Report showed. The drop erased much of the gains recorded since 2018 when the median was $407,000. The next areas were Kiama, Byron and Ballina, falling 18.5 per cent, 16.5 per cent and 16.4 per cent, respectively.”

From ABC News. “Nearly three years after he signed a contract, first home buyer Geoff Browne is still waiting for his townhouse to be finished. His builder entered liquidation a couple of months ago and Mr Browne could not move forward with the build because mandatory insurance had not been taken out on the property. But hope of progression has emerged after the South Australian government confirmed to the ABC that retrospective building indemnity insurance (BII) will be provided for customers ‘who have been impacted by the collapse of Felmeri Homes and 7 Star Construction.'”

“While he welcomed the news of an insurance payout, Mr Browne – who signed a contract in December 2020, before construction costs skyrocketed – said he still faced an uncertain financial future. ‘We’re getting quotes now where they’re looking at the build costs to be up to $350,000 and the insurance only covers $150,000,’ he said. In Mr Browne’s case, the local council said it was unaware work had started on the 10-townhouse development until it was contacted by a home owner in March – nearly two years after it said it had requested insurance details from the builder.”

“‘It’s on Anzac Highway, it’s not as if it’s a hard place to find,’ Mr Browne said. ‘The council could have driven past and gone, ‘Hey there’s stuff there, we didn’t know about this, let’s ask questions.’ The City of West Torrens said councils ‘rely upon lodgement of building notifications as a means for the builder to communicate up-to-date stages of work. To council’s knowledge, it was not clear that works had progressed,’ it said. The council said once it was made aware, it re-requested the insurance details and received certificates for three townhouses and was advised five were operating as owner-builders and therefore did not need insurance. That left two townhouses, including Mr Browne’s, without insurance.”

“Mr Browne said South Australia’s building indemnity insurance payout did not go far enough for consumers, given the current costs of construction. ‘Even with the insurance, having to rent in the meantime, continue to pay the mortgage and then be slapped with even a $50,000 out of pocket expense at the end of this build that was a fixed price that should have been finished two years ago almost, it’s still a bit of a kick in the guts,’ he said.”

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This Post Has 106 Comments

  1. ‘Even with the insurance, having to rent in the meantime, continue to pay the mortgage and then be slapped with even a $50,000 out of pocket expense at the end of this build that was a fixed price that should have been finished two years ago almost, it’s still a bit of a kick in the guts’

    It comes down to this Geoff: do you have what it takes to be a winnah!?

  2. ‘To contextualise this surge: between January 2010 and December 2019, prices in Bolton only rose by 24 per cent, averaging 2.4 per cent annually. This means that in just three years, prices escalated at five times the annual rate of the preceding decade’

    Every sh$thole on the planet

  3. It was still cheaper than renting Trey

    “The signal caller bought the place in the suburbs south of San Jose for $2.95 million in March 22, and he recently listed it for $2.8 million. So, he’s willing to take a slight loss to put his Bay Area stint behind him.”

    1. He’s a backup QB. He’s lucky he didn’t get cut.

      Also, as a backup, his salary is about 900K, meaning the $150K haircut, plus closing costs (another $100K?), had to hurt,

  4. ‘Most people who bought in that building bought during the last [market] high, so they weren’t able to sell without losing money,’ said Mr. Howard. ‘There haven’t been a lot of sales in the building from 2016 to 2021. The seller was extremely happy selling the property for the price he got because it wasn’t that long ago, he would have been looking at selling for $230,000 or $240,000′

    via GIPHY

  5. ‘The signal caller bought the place in the suburbs south of San Jose for $2.95 million in March 22, and he recently listed it for $2.8 million. So, he’s willing to take a slight loss to put his Bay Area stint behind him’

    I know it hasn’t sold Trey, but it’s still cheaper than renting.

    1. That sale could gobble up most of his $900K salary, and if he gets cut by the end of the season he might have nothing to show for his brief NFL career.

      Reminds me of a story about a Broncos running back who got cut and no one signed him. So next season, the Broncos had a few RB injuries midseason, so they went looking for the cut guy, as he would be better than nothing. They found him hawking cell phones at a kiosk in a local mall.

    2. I’m surprised that these professional athletes buy houses at all. They know they’re going to have to relocate every 3-4 years, if they even last that long. They can settle down after their first career is over and pretty much buy what they want. But, they have family to take care of, and probably a couple kids to support.

      1. They probably figure the house will appreciate 30-50% during that time, so they can sell for a profit. Probably what their financial advisers tell them to do: “don’t throw away money on rent”

        1. I watched tuckers interview of Favre and he said he was really tight with his money, he said his lawn mowers are worth more than his cars.

      2. He’s 23 years old or something and had a big rookie year contract. Still made no sense whatsoever to buy a $3M house when he could have just rented a sweet bachelor pad instead.

  6. ‘residential construction risks coming to an almost complete standstill’

    I love a good complete standstill in the mornin’ Olle.

  7. ‘Go in low, put in a cheeky offer, why not. Do your research on the property and area.

    Nah. The real carnage hasn’t even begun to manifest yet, so I think I’ll just sit tight & enjoy the floor show.

    1. My advice to the young ones: be patient and save your money. That if they buy now they will regret it. Plus most of them don’t qualify now anyway.

    2. Now’s the time to lowball landlords, not sellers. Let the sellers rot. I’m thinking a minimum of two years to hunker down. So find a desperate landlord and squeeze. And stock up on popcorn.

  10. Iowa bank failure tied to bad trucking loans

    As everyone in and associated with the trucking industry knows, most of the last two years have been very difficult ones for the industry.

    Trucking companies large and small have gone out of business. There are too many trucks chasing too little freight. Rates on most lanes are at or below 2019 levels — another bad year for the industry.

    In addition, brokerages have also been hurt. As widely reported by FreightWaves and other media, Convoy, a very high-profile brokerage, recently shut down for financial reasons. Other brokerages have also gone out of business, and layoffs have become relatively commonplace.

    Now the trucking bloodbath has taken down a bank.

    Citizens Bank of Sac City, Iowa, has failed, and it appears that its exposure to commercial trucking is the cause.

    Citizens Bank was a small state-chartered bank. Its loan portfolio was focused on “commercial and industrial loans,” according to Bank Reg Blog.

    The blog reported on Nov. 3 that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) “announced that Citizens Bank, a $66 million asset nonmember bank … had failed.”

    Supervised by the FDIC and the Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services, all of the deposits of Citizens Bank were assumed by Iowa Trust & Savings Bank, the blog reported.

    Because Citizens Bank was a state-chartered bank and not a member of FDIC, the bank’s estimated losses of $14.8 million will be the responsibility of the Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

    Sac City’s population is just over 2,000 people; the population of Iowa is only about 3.2 million people. Citizen Bank’s assets were only $66 million.

    Prices for new Class 8 trucks in 2023 vary by brand, as well as by the number and type of features and equipment. However, they are expensive; prices range between $150,000 for basic models to over $220,000 for models with custom features.

    How or why a small state-chartered bank in the very small town of Sac City, Iowa, was making loans on expensive trucks is unknown, but doing so seems highly speculative.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/iowa-bank-failure-tied-bad-170203106.html

    1. Shirley this is an isolated, one-off event that is no cause for alarm and in no way indicates an underlying systemic problem as our “strongest economic recovery ever” gains force.

      1. Maersk cuts 10,000 jobs as shipping demand falls
        Published
        2 days ago
        containersImage source, Getty Images
        By Michael Race
        Business reporter, BBC News

        One of the world’s biggest shipping firms is to cut 3,500 more jobs due to lower freight rates and demand.

        AP Moller-Maersk already cut 6,500 roles earlier this year as part of “rigorous cost containment measures” but said more redundancies were needed.

        The firm, which transports goods for major retailers such as Nike, said profits had plunged by 92% in its most recent quarterly results.

        It said “worsening” prices for shipping by sea required further job cuts.

        The cost of shipping goods soared in the first year of Covid when lockdowns lifted and businesses began to resume trading, increasing their orders for stock.
        …
        https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67307248

    3. A lot of these guys are foreign too and played all kinds of games with their finances over the years while the getting was good. Now that times are bad, their finances are a train wreck. The truckers themselves are scammers too, every Somali in MN has a CDL and is like ‘my truck needs new tires can you advance me $4k on this load’ and everybody is ripping off everybody else In that industry. Times are bad I’m sure, but some of the numbers never even worked when times were good.

      1. The truckers themselves are scammers too, every Somali in MN has a CDL and is like ‘my truck needs new tires can you advance me $4k on this load’ and everybody is ripping off everybody else In that industry.

        Try every industry. I learned to just smile as contractors ripped off my superiors. Game as old as time.

      1. True, but that was before Joetato and his handlers wrecked everything. Granted, the puppetmasters will remain, but Joetato is the face of everything that ails the country right now. Plus he appeared almost lucid 3 years ago, now he’s Captain Pike.

          1. Unclear why this isn’t inlining…looks like a url for a wikipedia page rather than an image — is that correct?

          2. “Unclear why this isn’t inlining…”

            If you follow the original wiki URL, and then click on the image you’ll see the shortened URL in the address line.

          3. If you follow the original wiki URL, and then click on the image you’ll see the shortened URL in the address line.

            For the “VHS case” image? I saw that, but that’s a pretty different url. Or am I looking at the wrong thing?

            Just came across the broken image and trying to debug to see if it’s something in my code or not

  12. McDonald’s is facing intense backlash from its customers after one Connecticut branch charged $18 for a Big Mac combo meal, which includes a Big mac, medium fries, and medium soft drink. McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden confirmed in an earnings call with investors that by the end of this year, the price of menu items will have increased by 10% since the start of the year—and this happened last year too!

    McDonald’s net income rose from $1.9B last year to $2.3B this year, and much of this increase can be attributed to the 8.1% increase in price hikes. With these expensive new prices, many customers are saying it’s just not worth it anymore.

    In a viral Reddit thread in which one user asked, “What is no longer worth it because of how expensive it has become?” the top answer is “most fast food,” with angry McDonald’s customers making up the majority of the replies. “A ‘value meal’ at McDonald’s now costs just as much as a meal at a lot of sit down restaurants,” one user wrote. “It’s insane!” they added.

    Another customer wrote, “Starting to look like some local places offer better choices and lower prices than McDonald’s… Another reason not to go there.”

    A fourth customer wrote, “Something’s got to give because I should not be paying $5 for a large fry. As long as McDonald’s has those prices, I won’t be going.”

    One commenter even wrote, “Well the food quality has cratered and the price has gone up…this strategy may work for a minute but in the end they will end up just being another Hardee’s or Burger Chef!”

    https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/customer-calls-mcdonalds-pricing-being-210002890.html

    1. “McDonald’s net income rose from $1.9B last year to $2.3B this year, and much of this increase can be attributed to the 8.1% increase in price hikes. With these expensive new prices, many customers are saying it’s just not worth it anymore.”

      “One commenter even wrote, “Well the food quality has cratered and the price has gone up…this strategy may work for a minute but in the end they will end up just being another Hardee’s or Burger Chef!””

      \\

      “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” – Mark Twain

      \\

      – Someone posted this reference a few days ago. I’m sure that it’s just a coincidence that the French Revolution occurred around that time. Read the whole thing. In essence, it could be the U.S. today. Selected excerpts included.

      \\

      https://www.usagold.com/publications/fiat-money-inflation.pdf
      FIAT MONEY INFLATION IN FRANCE
      How It Came, What It Brought, and How It Ended
      by Andrew Dickson White, LL.D., Ph.D., D.C.L.
      1912

      “The story of “Fiat Money Inflation in France” is one of great interest to legislators, to economic students, and to all business and thinking men.”

      “They left behind them a legacy of moral and material desolation and woe, from which one of the most intellectual and spirited races of Europe has suffered for a century and a quarter, and will continue to suffer until the end of time. There are limitations to the powers of governments and of peoples that inhere in the con- stitution of things, and that neither despotisms nor democracies can overcome.”

      “Legislatures are as powerless to abrogate moral and economic laws as they are to abrogate physical laws.”

      “France was now fully committed to a policy of inflation; and, if there had been any question of this before, all doubts were removed now by various acts very significant as show- ing the exceeding difficulty of stopping a nation once in the full tide of a depreciating currency.”

      “Still another troublesome fact began now to appear. Though paper money had increased in amount, prosperity had steadily diminished. In spite of all the paper issues, commercial activity grew more and more spasmodic. Enterprise was chilled and busi- ness became more and more stagnant.”

      “All this breaking down of the manufactures and commerce of the nation made fearful inroads on the greater fortunes; but upon the lesser, and upon the little properties of the masses of the nation who relied upon their labor, it pressed with intense severity.”

      “But these evils, though great, were small compared to those far more deep-seated signs of disease which now showed themselves throughout the country. One of these was the obliteration of thrift from the minds of the French people. The French are naturally thrifty; but, with such masses of money and with such uncertain- ty as to its future value, the ordinary motives for saving and care diminished, And a loose luxury spread throughout the country. A still worse outgrowth was the increase of speculation and gam- bling. With the plethora of paper currency in 1791 appeared the first evidences of that cancerous disease which always follows large issues of irredeemable currency–a disease more permanent- ly injurious to a nation than war, pestilence or famine. For at the great metropolitan centers grew a luxurious, speculative, stock- gambling body, which, like a malignant tumor, absorbed into itself the strength of the nation and sent out its cancerous fibres to the remotest hamlets. At these city centers abundant wealth seemed to be piled up: in the country at, large there grew a dislike of steady labor and a contempt for moderate gains and simple living.”

      “Now began to be seen more plainly some of the many ways in which an inflation policy robs the working class. As these knots of plotting schemers at the city centers were becoming bloated with sudden wealth, the producing classes of the country, though having in their possession more and more currency, grew lean.”

      “The artful plundering of the people at large was bad enough, but worse still was this growing corruption in official and legislative circles. Out of the speculating and gambling of the inflation period grew lux- ury, and, out of this, corruption. It grew as naturally as a fungus on a muck heap.”

      “It is some comfort to know that nearly all concerned were guillotined for it.[37] It is true that the number of these corrupt legislators was small, far less than alarmists led the nation to suppose, but there were enough to cause wide-spread distrust, cynicism and want of faith in any patriotism or any virtue.”

      “Even worse than this was the breaking down of the morals of the country at large, resulting from the sudden building up of osten- tatious wealth in a few large cities, and from the gambling, spec- ulative spirit spreading from these to the small towns and rural districts. From this was developed an even more disgraceful result,–the decay of a true sense of national good faith. The patri- otism which the fear of the absolute monarchy, the machinations of the court party, the menaces of the army and the threats of all monarchical Europe had been unable to shake was gradually dis- integrated by this same speculative, stock-jobbing habit fostered by the superabundant currency.”

      “This outgrowth was a vast debtor class in the nation, directly interested in the depreciation of the currency in which they were to pay their debts.”

      “No more striking example can be seen of the truth uttered by Daniel Webster, that “of all the contrivances for cheating the laboring classes of mankind, none has been more effective than that which deludes them with paper-money.”[41]”

      “Shopkeepers therefore could not sell such goods without ruin. The result was that very many went out of business and the remainder forced buyers to pay enormous charges under the very natural excuse that the seller risked his life in trading at all.”

      “Manufactures were very generally crippled and frequently destroyed, and agriculture was fearfully depressed.”

      “The main cause of these evils was tampering with the circulating medium of an entire nation; keep- ing all values in fluctuation; discouraging enterprise; paralyzing energy; undermining sobriety; obliterating thrift; promoting extravagance and exciting riot by the issue of an irredeemable currency.”

      “And now was seen, taking possession of the nation, that idea which developed so easily out of the fiat money system;–the idea that the ordinary needs of government may be legitimately met wholly by the means of paper currency;–that taxes may be dis- pensed with. As a result, it was found that the assignat printing press was the one resource left to the government, and the increase in the volume of paper money became every day more appalling.”

      “On August 1, 1795, this gold louis of 25 francs was worth in paper, 920 francs; on September 1st, 1,200 francs; on November 1st, 2,600 francs; on December 1st, 3,050 francs. In February, 1796, it was worth 7,200 francs or one franc in gold was worth 288 francs in paper. Prices of all commodities went up nearly in proportion.[65]”

      “Everything was enormously inflated in price except the wages of labor.”

      “Since May, 1797, both assignats and mandats had been virtually worth nothing.”

      “So ended the reign of paper money in France. The twenty-five hundred millions of mandats went into the common heap of refuse with the previous forty-five thousand millions of assignats: the nation in general, rich and poor alike, was plunged into financial ruin from one end to the other.”

      \\

      “It’s déjà vu all over again.” – Yogi Berra

      “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” – Aldous Huxley

      “What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;” – Ecclesiastes 1: 9

      “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana

      “Fiat money eventually always goes back to its intrinsic value – zero.” – Voltaire

      “When you destroy the money, you destroy the glue that holds society together.” – Tony Deden

      1. uh, yeah, I’m NOT GONNA READ ALL THAT!!

        I don’t come here for a freakin’ post doc review on topics:
        good lord, people. keep it short, keep it interesting, & for god’s sake, (In the words of Gunny Highway) . .

        “You can rob me.
        You can starve me.
        You can beat me.
        You can kill me….
        just don’t BORE me!”

        1. aqius – “uh, yeah, I’m NOT GONNA READ ALL THAT!!”

          Fair enough! Good suggestion. I’ll try to keep it short. Blog post, not novella. I do recommend to read the whole thing when you have time. – 🍌 🐘

    2. Connecticut branch charged $18 for a Big Mac combo meal

      The combos are still about $11 out here, which is already too expensive. $18? I can make a beef tenderloin dinner for myself for less than that.

        1. hey there RJ,
          I just had to thank you. I am chuckling my head off here. You have captured my sentiments as well. Haven’t set foot in a McD’s for over 50 years now. But I cannot hold a candle to your wit.
          I salute you.
          –Geezer

    3. Yeah, well, I don’t wanna hear CRAP from people who say they are “too poor” to eat healthy. That $18 will easily buy a pound of skinless/boneless chicken breast, a half-pound of ground beef, 4 eggs, and three pounds of frozen vegetables, half a stick of butter, plus $3 leftover for coffee, tea bags, and milk. That’s almost two days’ worth of food for the price of one low-qual meal at McDs.

    4. Restaurants in general are becoming too expensive to eat at for most people. The explosion of restaurants that occurred in the last 20 or 30 years might shrink considerably. like how it was during the 50s and 60s win sure there were some restaurants here and there but sit down restaurants or going for fast food was a big deal.

      1. like how it was during the 50s and 60s win sure there were some restaurants here and there but sit down restaurants or going for fast food was a big deal.

        Factory jobs are factory jobs. Many who worked assembly lines were moved to the burger assembly lines. They pollute less.

  13. One of the most popular Mexican restaurants in Vancouver is the latest establishment to permanently close its doors due to a pandemic recovery that fell short. La Catrina, located on Denman Street in Vancouver’s West End, shut its doors for good in late October. The owner’s stepson, Jose Mariscal, said the decision was not an easy one to make for the family.

    “It was really hard to make this decision. It was a beautiful experience (running the business) here in English Bay. There were a lot of events here but the winters are slow and rent is expensive,” he said.

    “We could not afford to pay back our $60,000 CEBA loan.”

    The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans saw the federal government provide relief to businesses that were suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We could not pay the rent and we couldn’t make the money to pay back the loan. We had to close the restaurant,” Mariscal said. “It’s very sad.”

    The BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA) said situations like La Catrina’s are becoming more and more common. “We are in a really tough phase right now. It’s disappointing because we came out of the pandemic strong and now we have just spiraled down,” Ian Tostenson said, BCRFA’s CEO.

    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/other/popular-vancouver-restaurant-closes-due-to-failed-pandemic-recovery/ar-AA1jqMOx

    1. It’s disappointing because we came out of the pandemic strong

      An illusion.

      and now we have just spiraled down

      The reality. They were probably hoping those loans would be forgiven. Also, it’s likely that customers dried up as their stimmie money ran dry.

      1. Vancouver has a serious zombie problem. I would not be surprised if that particular establishment had zombies lurking all around it. Most of the big cities on the west coast are going down this same path. The ones that didn’t get killed off by lockdowns are now going to get taken out by inflation and zombies. Who wants to weave their way through a zombie apocalypse for a 10 dollar taco? Not me.

        1. That too. Downtown Dumver is also facing the zombie apocalypse.

          I was invited to a meal at some fancy Thai place on a weekend a few weeks ago. The place wasn’t even 1/3 full. I was worried about my car, but it wasn’t stolen and still had its converter when I got back.

  15. The Atlantic
    Stop Asking Americans in Diners About Foreign Aid

    Americans don’t understand foreign aid. Instead of relying on misinformed citizens, we should demand better answers from national leaders who want to cut aid to our friends and allies and imperil American security.

    I remain astonished that so much of the media remain committed to covering Donald Trump and sedition-adjacent extremists such as Johnson as if they are normal American politicians. But while Americans pretend that all is well, the rest of the world is busily going about its terrifying business, which is why one comment in the Post article jumped out at me.

    “Politics here is personal,” according to Celeste Gauthier, 45. (The Post, for some reason, notes that Gauthier attended Middlebury College for a time—perhaps as a clumsy way of trying to tell us she’s not merely some rough local, and that she returned from Vermont to help run her family’s three restaurants.) She is concerned:

    “People really do look at the funding we’re sending to Israel and Ukraine and say, ‘I can’t afford to go to Kroger,’” Gauthier said as she sat amid the lunchtime crowd, some of whom she said had stopped buying beverages because of the cost. “A lot of these customers know Mike Johnson and think we often get overlooked and maybe we won’t anymore,” she said.

    I’m not sure what it means to be “overlooked” in a cherry-red district in a state where, as the Post notes, Republicans will control all three branches of state government once the conservative governor-elect is sworn in, but the comment about foreign aid is a classic expression of how little people understand about the subject.

    To put it in perspective, however, Americans forked over about $181 billion annually on snacks, and $115 billion for beer last year. (They also shell out about $7 billion annually just for potato chips. The snack spending is increasing, perhaps because Americans now spend about $30 billion on legal marijuana every year.) Americans also ante up a few bucks here and there on legal sports gambling, and by “a few” I mean more than $220 billion over the past five years.

    I know suds and weed and sports books and pretzels are more fun than helping Ukrainians stay alive. We need to stop asking people in diners about foreign aid.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/stop-asking-americans-in-diners-about-foreign-aid/ar-AA1j71k0

    1. Headline and snippet from Bloomberg

      US influence is waning
      US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s latest foray to the Middle East brought little visible progress on his aim of a temporary halt to hostilities between Israel and Hamas to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

      What it did yield was a clear disregard for the US position, as Israel bluntly rejected his plea and Arab nations demanded a full ceasefire.

      This is from Bloomberg (which I happen to like) so just think how low America’s influence is getting worldwide.

    2. “Sedition-adjacent extremists.” The globalist scum media is trying to set the narrative to justify the creation of a National Security Surveillance State that will freeze the non-compliant out of the financial system, if not boxcar most of them to the gulag we’re going to be needing.

    3. The Atlantic is globalist scum media.

      Why don’t Ukraine and Israel pay for their own phony wars?

      #AmericaFirst

    4. We need to stop asking people in diners about foreign aid.

      So much for being a “democracy”, that article basically said that the deep state should decide such matters.

      And the article has the audacity to claim that what we send to Ukraine is chump change, because some people still have discretionary income for snack foods

      1. If only the author of that piece could have cried out in pain as he/she/it punched us in the face, the rant would have seemed complete.

    5. “Americans don’t understand foreign aid. Instead of relying on misinformed citizens, we should demand better answers from national leaders who want to cut aid to our friends and allies and imperil American security.”

      Not to mention the national leaders who erased the border.

      “But while Americans pretend that all is well,”

      They do?

      “the rest of the world is busily going about its terrifying business,”

      Our own rulers and their mouthpieces hate us as much or more than Putin and the other boogeymen.

      “People really do look at the funding we’re sending to Israel and Ukraine and say, ‘I can’t afford to go to Kroger,’”

      “the comment about foreign aid is a classic expression of how little people understand about the subject.”

      “I know suds and weed and sports books and pretzels are more fun than helping Ukrainians stay alive. We need to stop asking people in diners about foreign aid.”

      How dare you ignorant little people worry about whether you can eat.

      Marie Antoinette, eat your heart out.

    6. I agree, the media should stop asking diners about ANYthing. I’m pretty tired of so-called journalists interviewing a few randos on the street and extrapolating their anecdotal sob stories into a representation of the pulse of the nation.

      (I still haven’t seen a true breakdown of student loan vs college major, with any meaningful sample size. Nope, all we’ve gotten are a few street interviews and videos of Tiktok 308s with no experience expecting a cute $150K job.)

      1. “breakdown of student loan vs college major”

        If their major includes the word “studies” they are unemployable.

  16. Michael Gove attacks corporations for creating ‘resentment industry’

    Michael Gove has attacked corporations for hiring armies of equality staff who do nothing to bring true diversity into the workplace.

    The Housing Secretary said the biggest growth business in the Western world was the “resentment industry” whose trade was the “manufacture of grievance”. He said global firms who have made billions at the expense of poorer people have tried to disguise this by “co-opting” people from the resentment industry in an attempt to win legitimacy from the Left. But this did not lead to diversity.

    Mr Gove told delegates that the world’s biggest “manufacturing concern” was the “resentment industry”.

    “What does it manufacture? Grievance… We now face in many areas, an effective coalition between the privileged and the resentment industry.

    “You will find that there are major institutions within the corporate world who are well aware that the decisions that they take have enriched them.

    “They’re also conscious that they need to insulate themselves from the envy, resentment and the sense of injustice that is out there.

    “So what they’ve done is they’ve co-opted individuals from the resentment industry to be their advisers on EDI or whatever other acronym they wish to put up.”

    Mr Gove said this did not address “some of the profound inequalities that exist within our society”.

    “The EDI industry doesn’t always go on for diversity of thought or genuine diversity of backgrounds,” he said. “And when they are addressing equality and inequality, sometimes there are performative exercises in the boardroom.”

    “What they rarely do, is think about the impact on working people in industry, who often find that their participation in the labour market, their sense of economic security, their sense of agency, has been undermined and denied.”

    Global firms had also used their size to block insurgents by ensuring governments do not act to clip their wings – a process known as “regulatory capture”. Another reason for the unpopularity of capitalism among the young was the housing market, where houses were seen more as a tradeable asset than merely a shelter.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/michael-gove-attacks-corporations-for-creating-resentment-industry/ar-AA1jakFd

  17. Some of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S. include San Diego, Denver, Miami and New York City, according to Redfin, but there are ways around the price increases along with the dip in buyer demand in the winter.

    Jeff Tucker, a senior economist at Zillow, said sellers can be more flexible with buyers during winter.

    “In fact the sellers, who are still on the market at this moment, a lot of them are getting worried about whether their listing will sell before the holiday season. What that means is that a lot of them might be willing to meet buyers halfway,” he said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/homebuyers-nationwide-feeling-the-impacts-of-rising-interest-rates/ar-AA1j9d5N

    2. “…sellers…” “…a lot of them are getting worried about whether their listing will sell before the holiday season.

      Further in the interview, sellers also all believe that Santa Claus is real.

  18. Redfin met expectations for its third quarter earnings report with $269 million in revenue, down 12% year-over-year, and a net loss of $19 million, compared to $90.2 million in the year-ago period.

    “In October, we raised capital, began generating revenues from a new digital business, and launched all-variable agent pay in California,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “This downturn has only made us stronger.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/redfin-revenue-dips-12-in-q3-to-269m-as-it-navigates-slow-housing-market/ar-AA1ji8M2

    1. “…said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “This downturn has only made us stronger….”

      Really?, Stronger?, Another bucket of BS from the REIConplex.

      Are these guys even capable of uttering a straight sentence?

    1. Cut from article:
      “…providing $1,000-$1,200 per month to 150 former foster youth….”

      Looks like the rest of us will just have to work for a living.

      On the bright side, we all can be assured that *none* of this money will go towards the latest IPhone, tats, concert tickets or weed.

      1. I think the real winners are going to be whoever administers this program. No doubt 6 figure salaries will be involved.

        1. Which means they might not be collecting it for very long. Perhaps that is the intended goal: opiate ODs. Not only do dead men tell no tales, they also don’t panhandle or consume public funds.

    2. I predict that this UBS pilot will be a rousing success. I mean that seriously. It will be a success because:

      1. These UBI advocates will be very careful to cherry pick 150 foster success stories who actually are responsible and will use the money wisely.
      2. Since only 150 people will get this money, that won’t move the needle on prices. More money + same prices = getting a little bit ahead.

      Then the UBI advocates will scream: “See? It works! Now we need to give it to everyone!” Then, it will fail.

      1. Now the UBIs will include the loser bums along with the responsible. Cue the game consoles, weed, and bumming around.
      2. Now that everyone is walking around with more money, prices will rise to absorb the UBI. More money + higher prices = no gain, and everyone else suffers too.

      But they’ll feel mighty good about themselves.

  20. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/rally-will-fizzle-out-in-a-week-or-two-morgan-stanley-strategist-wilson-says-37908b7e?mod=home-page
    Need to Know
    Rally will fizzle out in a week or two, Morgan Stanley strategist Wilson says
    Last Updated: Nov. 6, 2023 at 8:42 a.m. ET
    First Published: Nov. 6, 2023 at 6:30 a.m. ET
    By Steve Goldstein

    “We think last week’s rally in stocks was mainly a function of the fall in back-end Treasury yields,” says Wilson. And that drop, he said, was driven more by lower-than-expected coupon issuance and weaker economic data than anything Jerome Powell said. Continuing claims are now up more than 35% from the cycle trough, and the unemployment rate is up 0.5% from its lows, which have been important thresholds in past cycles.”

    “So what happens now? For asset owners and allocations, the prospect of adding additional risk at current levels is less attractive than fixed-income alternatives. “We think this group is more likely to be sellers into strength at this point,” he says.””

    “In all, Wilson says the rally should “fizzle out over the next week or two” as it becomes clear the growth picture doesn’t support either Fed cuts or a significant acceleration in earnings per share growth.”

    “Bolstering the view on the Fed side — Barclays is still calling for another Fed rate hike, though in January instead of December.”

    – That sounds about right to me also. U.S. Treasury is playing games with coupons (bonds) vs. bills: Short-term easing of financial conditions, but long-term inflationary. Still need to unwind 13 years of free $ and cheap credit. Not gonna happen overnight.

  22. From MarketWatch

    “.WeWork stock still halted for news, with no release or comment from the company.”

    Hey everyone, now is your big chance to scoop up some WeWork stock and make a $killing.

    Even if WeWork goes Chapter 7, you get to choose your very own desk an a stapler at the liquidation.

    Remember, these once in a lifetime opportunities only come around every couple of weeks.

    1. Apparently WeWork dropped in value by even more than FTX did since their recent all-time highs in the $10s of billions.

  23. Climate “crisis”

    California scientists suggest a strategy to ‘eat our way’ out of the climate crisis (11/6/2023):

    “Commercializing the production of synthetic dietary fats could relieve pressure on a global agricultural sector that is struggling to decarbonize, a new study has found.

    The widespread manufacture of farm-free food could yield numerous environmental and societal benefits — enabling people to “eat our way” out of a burgeoning climate crisis, according to the study authors, who published their findings Monday in Nature Sustainability.

    Some benefits would include reductions in water use and pollution, greater local control over food production and decreases in weather-related shortage risks, per the study.”

    https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/4295767-california-scientists-suggest-a-strategy-to-eat-our-way-out-of-the-climate-crisis/

    Soylent Green is people.

    1. “…widespread manufacture of farm-free food…”

      Code for “bugs”. You will eat bugs and like them.

    2. widespread manufacture of farm-free food could yield numerous environmental and societal benefits — enabling people to “eat our way” out of a burgeoning climate crisis,

      Yeah,that could work look at Beyond Meats success. Oh wait it lost $4.40 a share last year and the stock is down what 95% plus, no one I know even mentions it let alone eats its it anymore.
      How many non-farm facilities would need to be built to replace dairy and meat, where will they be built and how many decades will it take to build them all. These “futurist” (AKA our “betters”) need to get operation and financial people involved before they make really silly, potentially disastrous, suggestions.

  24. Keep paying those federal income taxes, you’ll be paying for this too:

    Antiwar (11/5/2023):

    “Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu on Sunday said that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was an option for Israel and claimed there are no innocent civilians in the enclave.

    According to The Times of Israel, Eliyahu said in a radio interview that dropping a nuke is “one of the possibilities” and said there is no “such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.” He also called for the expulsion of Palestinians from the enclave.

    “They can go to Ireland or deserts, the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves,” he said. Eliyahu added that the Gaza Strip doesn’t have the right to exist and that anyone waving a Hamas or Palestinian flag “shouldn’t continue living on the face of the earth.”

    https://news.antiwar.com/2023/11/05/israeli-minister-says-dropping-nuke-on-gaza-is-an-option/

    1. Keep paying those federal income taxes

      Well, we all know what happens if you fail to pay your income taxes.

  26. “The signal caller bought the place in the suburbs south of San Jose for $2.95 million in March 22, and he recently listed it for $2.8 million. So, he’s willing to take a slight loss to put his Bay Area stint behind him.”

    Let’s guess he paid at least 6% of the initial purchase price on commissions and other additional costs to what he could have rented a comparable place for:

    6%+ of $2.95 million = $180,000
    (rounded up).

    And then there was a loss of $2.95 million – $2.8 million = $150,000.

    So the overall cost of owning that place for just over a year exceeded $300,000. That may be a slight loss for a football star. But if he regularly conducts his real estate investing activities in a similar manner, those slight losses may soon add up to a really big loss.

    1. “…That may be a slight loss for a football star…”

      Over the years, the HBB and its readers have documented what seems like an endless parade of sports/TV/film celebrities who couldn’t hit the broad side of a financial barn.

      Always wondered about these folks. Do they feel that they are financially invincible and have so much money it doesn’t matter anyway?

      What a bizzarro world Hollywood is.

      1. Most of the NFL types are fresh out of school. Few make the megabucks, and careers are very short, often just a few years. They burn through whatever they get, then get cut from the team and find out no one else wants them. And the NCAA, which has 133 division 1 teams, is a steady source of fresh meat.

    2. That may be a slight loss for a football star.

      He’s a benchwarmer and makes 900K a year, so that is a big loss for him, especially since there is no guarantee he won’t be cut next season, as there is a plentiful supply of benchwarmers coming out of the NCAA

  27. Ready for some great advice that applies to almost nobody in California under current housing market conditions except the rather wealthy?

    1. Dave Ramsey has blunt advice about buying a house
      One emotional decision must be avoided.
      Jeffrey QuiggleNov 5, 2023 3:58 PM EST
      Bestselling author and radio host Dave Ramsey spends a lot of time and effort giving advice to people who are trying to take control of their finances.

      Often, Ramsey is asked about the conditions under which people should consider purchasing a home.

      The personal finance personality frequently discusses the importance of paying off debt and setting up an emergency fund before considering a serious commitment such as buying a house.

      He also says it’s important to not buy a house that is out of one’s price range. Mortgage payments that are too much of a burden make a person “house poor,” he explains.

      Ramsey suggests that a good place to start is calculating that a potential home buyer should not pay more than a fourth of their take-home pay on a mortgage. He also strongly encourages 15-year mortgages over any other option.
      …

      1. What income would support a 15 year
        6.5% mortgage on a $1 million California starter home at 25% of pay? Bankrate sez $9567/month is the mortgage payment.

        4×12×$9567 = $459,216.

        I’m guessing not too many San Diegans pull down that kind of salary.

      3. I agree with his 25% of take home rule. But this is what drives me crazy about guys like this. They’ll make accurate statements about affordability but then not follow it up by stating that by his own standards we are in one of the most massive housing bubbles of all time and prices need to crash. Grow some balls and just say it Dave.

  29. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-demands-jury-says-nyag-has-no-case-heated-testimony

    Trump demands jury, says New York AG has ‘no case’ in heated testimony

    Trump has denied any wrongdoing in NYC civil fraud trial

    Brooke Singman By Brooke Singman , Maria Paronich Fox News
    Published November 6, 2023 4:11pm EST

    Former President Trump demanded a jury Monday after his unprecedented time on the stand, calling the civil trial against him and his businesses a “disgrace” and saying New York Attorney General Letitia James has “no case.”

    Trump described his forced testimony as “election interference” while maintaining that his net worth is “far greater” than financial statements during testimony Monday.

    Former President Trump demanded a jury Monday after his unprecedented time on the stand, calling the civil trial against him and his businesses a “disgrace” and saying New York Attorney General Letitia James has “no case.”

    Trump described his forced testimony as “election interference” while maintaining that his net worth is “far greater” than financial statements during testimony Monday.

    – This is a banana republic. Therefore, I am a banana republican.
    – We all know who the tin-pot dictator is then.
    – 🤡 🌏 + 💩 🎪

      1. The Trump administration was too male and too pale.” —New York Attorney General Letitia James

        Sounds sorta rayciss.

    2. Less Clown World, more Sh*t Circus?

      I don’t know what that means, but it could be an effective campaign strategy for somebody.

  30. WeWork Just Went Bankrupt
    Sasha Yanshin
    4 hours ago

    WeWork is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy after defaulting on bond interest payments and failing to renegotiate leases on their office buildings.

    WeWork is a prime example of a company that has never had a viable business strategy or a plan to make a profit, but the founders became rich before the company went bankrupt.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R49Wj6ijtpg

    9:51 minutes. He called Peleton the most expensive coat hanger stock.

  31. ‘nearly two years after it said it had requested insurance details from the builder…’It’s on Anzac Highway, it’s not as if it’s a hard place to find,’ Mr Browne said. ‘The council could have driven past and gone, ‘Hey there’s stuff there, we didn’t know about this, let’s ask questions’

    You know what they say Geoff, you can’t fight city hall.

  32. ‘While some will adjust or endure, others, unfortunately, will struggle and feel compelled to sell—sometimes at a loss’

    That would have been a good title.

  33. Admiral Invalidator
    @Artofhunger75

    Listen to the screams of these young women. Massachusetts’ field hockey team Swampscott Big Blue have a male senior on its team named Sawyer Groothius #7. He knocked teeth out of a female player on the opposing team. He also scored both goals in the 2-0 win for his team 🧵

    Post
    See new posts
    Conversation

    Nicole Solas, Sued by the Teachers Union
    @Nicoletta0602
    Swampscott field hockey player #2 is a male.

    It’s reported he knocked out the teeth of a Dighton-Rehoboth female player tonight. See 57:42:

    https://youtube.com/live/2a3eKG-rXpQ?si=L8DxXVzrHXDBb0Xi

    He could have killed her.

    https://x.com/Artofhunger75/status/1720406754109149502?s=20

    1. Team Captain Raises Alarm After Female High School Field Hockey Player’s Teeth KNOCKED OUT by Trans Opponent

      by Adan Salazar
      November 6th 2023, 2:20 pm

      In a letter to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Dighton-Rehoboth High School field hockey captain Kelsey Bain described her teammate’s serious injury during a match against Swampscott Big Blue. The injury happened when male senior varsity player Sawyer Groothius struck the ball, hitting the player in the mouth.

      “On Nov. 2nd, our team played Swampscott High School in the first round of MIAA Division III playoffs,” Bain’s letter stated. “During the third quarter of this game, one of our players was struck in the face by a shot in a corner penalty, which came off the stick of a male athlete on the opposing team.”

      “The shrieks and screams of fear and pain that projected from her after being hit filled the stadium,” Bain described. “The looks of horror and shock on the faces of the girls surrounding her were also chilling.”

      “Following the injury, my teammates were sobbing not only in fear for their teammate but also in fear that they had to go back out onto the field and continue a game, playing against a male athlete who hospitalized one of our own.”

      “This traumatic event sheds light on the rules and regulations of male athletes participating in women’s sports,” the letter continued.

      The team captain went on to highlight several data points showing male athletes regularly outperform their female counterparts due to innate biological differences.

      “The difference in the anatomy of males and females solely shows the risk involved in allowing biological males to participate in female sports,” she wrote, going on to list various genetic advantages males have over females, including the fact men have more testosterone, have larger lungs and hearts, and have a higher bone mass density and larger skeletal structures than females.

      “As a result, the female body is set up to produce less force in running, jumping, and throwing due to differences in biomechanics,” the high school teen also informed the athletic governing body.

      “We all witnessed the substantial damage that a male has the ability to cause against a female during a game,” Bain added. “How much longer does the MIAA plan on using girls as statistical data points before they realize that boys do not belong in girls sports? Twenty injuries? One hundred? Death?”

      Bain concluded her letter by asking the MIAA to change its policies, remove male players, and form a separate “seven versus seven boys league.”

      “I understand that the MIAA is adhering to the Massachusetts Equal Rights Amendment, but continuously using the law as a scapegoat for criticism and issues regarding this topic is unacceptable. The MIAA needs to do better,” she wrote.

      The MIAA does not appear to have issued a response as of writing, and the group did not immediately respond to Infowars’ request for comment.

      It remains to be seen whether Bain’s letter leads to any meaningful changes in the state’s transgender athlete policies.

      Read Bain’s letter in full below:

      https://www.infowars.com/posts/team-captain-raises-alarm-after-female-high-school-field-hockey-players-teeth-knocked-out-by-trans-opponent/

    1. Yahoo
      Yahoo Finance
      Stock market news today: Stock futures dip as Fed rate hopes dim
      Karen Friar
      Tue, November 7, 2023 at 3:33 AM PST·2 min read
      In this article:

      Stock futures on Wall Street slipped amid the year’s best rally as confidence fades that the Federal Reserve won’t hike interest rates again this year.

      Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were both down around 0.3%, poised to lose hold of a notable stretch of gains. Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell over 0.2%.

      Signs of a weaker US economy suggested to the market that the Fed could ease up on its tightening campaign. But investors were reassessing those hopes after Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Monday the central bank likely has more work ahead of it to control inflation.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-today-stock-futures-dip-as-fed-rate-hopes-dim-113349185.html

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