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We’re Left Holding The Carnage

A report from the Courier Journal in Kentucky. “In the greater Louisville area, December 2023 marked the 24th consecutive month of year-over-year declines in existing home sales. ‘Brutal,’ Mike Frank, a senior mortgage broker at Homestretch Mortgage in Louisville, said of 2023. ‘That was my worst year in the business last year. That’s because everybody was scared because the market turned so fast and rates were at 8%.’ ‘From a home seller standpoint, they’ll need to understand … their property will not sell within three hours,’ said Kurt Schuler, CEO of Schuler Bauer Real Estate Services. ‘All they’ve heard for the past three to four years and all they’ve seen on social media and then the news are homes selling for above asking price, multiple offers, waiving any and every contingency. Whereas now that’s not the case.'”

The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. “V2 Properties markets itself as Philadelphia’s largest single-family home builder — and one of its most principled. But, in 2018, V2′s reputation took a hit. Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) accused V2 and its general contractor, Rock Haven Builders, of failing to get required right-of-way permits, or posting falsified ones, at 94 job sites. V2 denied wrongdoing, but agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement. Clarence McFadden had lived in the rowhouse about 20 years; it was his grandparents’ before that. His friend Tracey Judon had moved in seven years earlier. Together, they’d watched their block transformed by development. McFadden was besieged by real-estate agents urging him to sell. ‘Why should I?’ he’d tell them. ‘Why start all over again at 50?'”

“That evening, McFadden couldn’t get out the front door. It was jammed shut. Suddenly, the house shifted and McFadden was knocked back, like a ‘300-pound pinball.’ The room in front of him collapsed. McFadden was trapped on the landing, screaming into the cloud of dust where his friend had just been. Judon was in free fall. The fire department rescued McFadden. But his home was lost. He didn’t have insurance. ‘Everything from 50 years,’ he said, ‘from my parents and grandparents, everything was gone.'”

The Pioneer Press in Minnesota. “As president of the Greater St. Paul Building Owners and Managers Association, Tina Grossman keeps a close eye on the fate of large office buildings in downtown St. Paul, including conversions to residential apartment buildings. Some longstanding projects appear stalled, and none were completed downtown last year. ‘Things are not good now,’ Grossman said, ‘and they’re looking to get worse.’ The rental housing market has quieted in other ways, too, with depressed sale prices on apartment buildings and less activity on new construction.”

“Buyers of St. Paul apartment buildings last year paid around $78,000 per unit, down 45% from the year before, according to HousingLink, a nonprofit housing information clearinghouse based in the Twin Cities. While some blame St. Paul’s voter-approved rent-control ordinance, Minneapolis — which has no such policy — saw its own apartment sale prices drop by 27%. Developer John Wall, who owns several apartment buildings in St. Paul, said he’s monitoring the residential housing market. ‘I don’t have any plans to build or even buy in St. Paul, in light of rent control,’ he said. ‘It’s kind of hard to make the numbers work for new construction, and interest rates have made it harder to buy, or basically to sell, because they have to offer a reduced price.'”

From Bisnow. “Office buildings across the country are starting to trade at significant markdowns, in many cases selling for less than the value of their loan. Those types of transactions, executed in concert with the buildings’ lenders, are known as short sales. ‘We’re definitely seeing owners want to give up the properties, especially ones that were recently purchased, where their equity has likely been wiped out,’ said Holly MacDonald-Korth, CEO of Miami-based investment firm KDM Financial. ‘If they had 10% or 15% equity in a building and the building is marked down 25% or 30%, they feel like they’re wiped out. They would probably be made full if they were a long-term owner, but a lot of them are looking to give back the keys.'”

“Moody’s Analytics tracked a little over $8.5B in CMBS office loans that matured in 2023 and found that only $3B were fully paid off, said Matt Reidy, the firm’s director of commercial real estate economics. ‘That leaves another $5.5B that we’re going to have to figure something out on,’ he said, adding that another $15B in office CMBS debt matures in 2024. Two properties in the Washington D.C. area traded at steep discounts in early January. Melrose Solomon paid $18.2M for 1101 14th St. NW, less than a third of the $61.7M seller TA Realty had paid in 2017.”

“In Bethesda, Maryland, the 16-story, 335K SF property formerly known as the Clark Building sold to South Florida-based In-Rel Properties for just under $30M. The sellers, Stonebridge and Rockwood Capital, paid $133M for the building at 7500 Old Georgetown Road in 2019. A similar trend is playing out in Chicago. This month, the 12-story building at 300 W. Adams St. sold for $4M, or slightly less than $16 per SF, an 89% decline from its $38M purchase price in 2012. ‘Sometimes the values have deteriorated for office so fast that the borrower doesn’t want to put good money after bad, and the lender wants a paydown,’ said Kevin Shannon, the Los Angeles-based co-head of U.S. capital markets at Newmark.”

Business Insider. “The office apocalypse is real and it’s happening in small increments that will eventually lead to a wave of demolished or converted properties, according to JLL senior managing director Bob Knakal. The New York City property exec and veteran real estate broker pointed to potential trouble heading for the US office space. ‘I think what we’re going to see is a combination of conversions to residential and demolitions to make way for new construction, that’s going to help get rid of a lot of this overhang of vacant office space that we have,’ he said in an interview. ‘If you take the price of the building plus the price of demolishing, some of those values are less than land value,’ he said. New York City alone has around 100 million square feet of empty office space, Knakal estimated.”

CBC News in Canada. “A bulldozer tears through a modern house in Meaford, Ont., a picturesque community on Georgian Bay. Occupied for just two years, the home’s once soaring ceilings, large windows and backyard patio are now just a heap of crushed glass and wood. Another home is also slated to be torn down. The demolitions are the latest chapter in the saga of TerraceWood, a housing development launched in Meaford in 2015 to much fanfare. The ’boutique’ subdivision of houses was built by Third Line Homes and endorsed by celebrity contractor and popular TV host Mike Holmes.”

“Holmes is famously known for rescuing homeowners from botched construction jobs. He promoted TerraceWood, including on a billboard, as ‘Holmes Approved Homes.’ But things didn’t go so right according to Tarion, Ontario’s new-home consumer protection organization. As CBC News previously reported, Tarion filed an $8 million lawsuit in 2021 against parties involved in the project, alleging 14 TerraceWood houses were built with defects. Now, CBC has learned that Tarion has condemned three of those homes. Two have already been torn down and the third is waiting for a demolition date.”

“Neighbours Andrea Hart and Myles Johnson said they also had to vacate their house — for an entire year — while it underwent repairs including structural fixes. That was in 2022. They’re back in the house now. But six years after the couple first got the keys to their new home, it’s still under repair. ‘[Holmes] puts his thumbs up and then disappears,’ said Myles. ‘Then we’re left holding the carnage.’ ‘It’s worn us down. It’s exhausting,’ said Andrea. Once the repairs are done, she wants to sell the house she and Myles had once hoped would be their dream retirement home. ‘I just want to get the hell out of here,’ she said.”

From The BBC. “House prices in Wales have seen their biggest decline since 2009 following the financial crash, according to new figures. The Principality Building Society said the average house price at the end of 2023 was £234,000 – down by 6% from a record high the year before. Merthyr Tydfil saw the biggest drop with prices down by more than 20%. This is the fourth consecutive quarter that prices have fallen in Wales. Six local authorities – Monmouthshire, Carmarthenshire, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Denbighshire and Merthyr Tydfil – all experienced double digit price falls when compared to the same period the previous year, with Merthyr Tydfil reporting the largest fall of 21.2%. Shaun Middleton, head of distribution at Principality Building Society, said: ‘The housing market in Wales has been through a difficult period.'”

The Star Weekly in Australia. “Another building company with customers in Wyndham has gone into voluntary administration, pausing most construction for about six weeks. Langdon Building announced on January 29, that it would enter voluntary administration to restructure its business and financial position, but assured customers it had not collapsed. In a letter to customers, managing director Shane Langdon pointed to COVID impacts, inflation and labour shortages which he said had created the ‘perfect storm.’ ‘In more than 30 years in the building industry, I have never experienced the extreme economic challenges builders have faced in the last two years,’ he said. ‘Let me assure you: Langdon Building is not in liquidation. We have not collapsed.’ Langdon Building operates throughout metro and regional north-west, including Mambourin, Sunbury, Donnybrook and Lara.”

From ABC News. “A Hong Kong court has ordered one of China’s biggest property developers, Evergrande Group, to liquidate after it was unable to reach a restructuring deal with creditors over hundreds of billions of dollars it owes. A crackdown three years ago by China on real estate speculation caused a property crisis and left Evergrande owing $US300 billion ($455 billion). Months later, the firm defaulted on its offshore debt obligations, and a proposal to restructure its debt was rejected last month by creditors.”

“‘Evergrande’s liquidation is a sign that China is willing to go to extreme ends to quell the property bubble,’ said Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research in Hong Kong. ‘This is good for the economy in the long term, but very difficult in the short term.'”

From The Week. “China’s economy faces a turbulent start to 2024 as declining stock markets and a prolonged slump in the property sector threaten to stymie Xi Jinping’s grand plans on the world stage. In the first three weeks of January, mainland China’s CSI 300 Index dropped by 6%, the Shanghai Composite Index by 7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell by over 12%, ‘reaching its lowest level in two decades,’ said Foreign Policy’s China Brief newsletter writer James Palmer.”

“President Xi harbours ambitions to ‘make China great again’ and position the nation as the foremost global power by 2049, said Katie Stallard, senior editor for China at The New Statesman. But the market slump has ‘dampened Beijing’s recent efforts to paint a rosy picture of economic recovery,’ said Palmer, and has come as a ‘psychological shock’ to both the Chinese government and public. Despite the blows to his economic credibility, Xi ‘appears convinced that he alone can solve the country’s problems,’ said The New Statesman’s Stallard. China’s property market, a ‘critical barometer’ for the economy, said Foreign Policy’s Palmer, is ‘doing just as badly,’ with new home prices, investment and sales all falling in 2023.”

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This Post Has 142 Comments

      1. I read on X last week that the government has allocated funds to help “migrants” improve their credit scores. It might have been removed, bc I can’t find it now. Here come the new debt slaves, same as the old slaves. I didn’t think they’d have credit scores at all. I suppose a good one will be assigned so they can get right on that property ladder.

        1. Citizenship is not required to borrow lots of money. There are many programs and pathways available to the new arrivals. California is one of the best examples we have of this process, over 25% of the state is foreign born and somehow they are all housed. It’s magic!

        2. I remember 2001-2006 or so, watching immigrant women pulling out ROLLS of $20 bills to buy baby and kid stuff at Marshalls. At the time I had no car and I was still making very little money and paying off my college loans.

          If we’re going to be transitioning to a cashless society anyway, I welcome the idea of these migrants having to use debit or credit cards to buy stuff. If they don’t show up to their asylum hearing, it will be much easier to track them down.

  2. ‘It’s worn us down. It’s exhausting’ Once the repairs are done, she wants to sell the house she and Myles had once hoped would be their dream retirement home. ‘I just want to get the hell out of here’

    Just like that Andrea, yer giving it away.

  3. ‘McFadden was besieged by real-estate agents urging him to sell. ‘Why should I?’ he’d tell them. ‘Why start all over again at 50?’

    ‘The room in front of him collapsed. McFadden was trapped on the landing, screaming into the cloud of dust where his friend had just been. Judon was in free fall. The fire department rescued McFadden. But his home was lost. He didn’t have insurance. ‘Everything from 50 years,’ he said, ‘from my parents and grandparents, everything was gone’

    Turn those machines back on Clarence!

      1. One of the homeowners insurance stories in the news implied that something like 80% of all property damage claims in the U.S. were in Florida.

      2. “..insurance costs getting out of control…”

        Real Estate holding costs.

        HBB and readers for years have been warning about every rising holding costs, such as insurance of all types, property taxes, HOA, maintenance, utilities, etc.

        Rarely, if ever, discussed in the MSM.

    2. FYI, Judon, the guy in free fall, is mostly ok too. Both men were badly beat up by the house collapse. McFadden didn’t have insurance because he didn’t have a mortgage. But he didn’t lose “everything.” Half the property value is likely in the land. At worst he’ll break even … after living for many years in a house his family gave him for free.

  4. ‘pointed to COVID impacts, inflation and labour shortages which he said had created the ‘perfect storm.’ ‘In more than 30 years in the building industry, I have never experienced the extreme economic challenges builders have faced in the last two years,’ he said. ‘Let me assure you: Langdon Building is not in liquidation. We have not collapsed’

    If you stamp yer little feets it would have more ummph Shane.

    1. “he said. ‘Let me assure you: Langdon Building is not in liquidation. We have not collapsed”

      Yes, we know, WE KNOW . . . it’s “Just a flesh wound!”

  5. ‘Two properties in the Washington D.C. area traded at steep discounts in early January. Melrose Solomon paid $18.2M for 1101 14th St. NW, less than a third of the $61.7M seller TA Realty had paid in 2017. In Bethesda, Maryland, the 16-story, 335K SF property formerly known as the Clark Building sold to South Florida-based In-Rel Properties for just under $30M. The sellers, Stonebridge and Rockwood Capital, paid $133M for the building at 7500 Old Georgetown Road in 2019’

    The DC sh$thole is really coming apart.

    ‘A similar trend is playing out in Chicago. This month, the 12-story building at 300 W. Adams St. sold for $4M, or slightly less than $16 per SF, an 89% decline from its $38M purchase price in 2012’

    It’s bad when they are comparing you to Chicago.

    2. Clark is a construction company that specializes in large buildings like office towers and hospitals. Looks like they moved an HQ out of Bethesda. BTW the whole DC area is awash with new construction, especially around the Metro subway stations in the suburbs. Train tracks and subway stations used to be undesirable industrial areas, but no more. Now they’re building the equivalent of 15-minute cities around the stations. It’s all trophy office space and the ubiquitous “mixed-used” developments with street retail or a grocery store. I don’t object to it that much because most of it is urban infill. I would rather see that than spotty expansion further into the hinterlands.

    3. ‘If you take the price of the building plus the price of demolishing, some of those values are less than land value,

      Is that a polite way of saying they have negative value?

    4. The 10 story office building I used to work at in suburban Chicago was just torn down last week. Not sure what’s going to happen with Chicago’s loop office buildings. Lori Lightfoot shut Chicago down really early and for far too long. Commuters changed their lifestyles and patterns, and now half of them no longer ever feel a need to return downtown. 24% of all office space is vacant and the leased space is half empty on most weekdays. I’ve only been downtown 5 times in 4 years and before that I went downtown 4-5x a week for two decades.

  6. ‘Things are not good now,’ Grossman said, ‘and they’re looking to get worse.’

    Minneapolis-St. Paul used to be a beautiful, clean, safe metropolis. Now it’s Mogadishu on the Mississippi. Heckova job, MN libtards.

    1. Bitcoin is on the rise too. However, every step toward Bitcoin as a digital asset is a step *away* from Bitcoin becoming a currency. And I still maintain that Bitcoin’s ONLY inherent value* is the anticipation of Bitcoin becoming a fully adopted currency. No currency, no value.

      ————
      *the inherent value of gold is that it is nearly corrosion proof.

  8. New York Times — As Buses of Migrants Arrive in Chicago Suburbs, Residents Debate the Role of Their Towns (1/29/2024):

    “The migrant crisis in Chicago is intensifying well beyond the city limits. For more than a month, city officials said, buses from Texas have avoided Chicago entirely, dropping hundreds of migrants in suburbs that have been given no warning that they are en route. In December, Chicago enacted penalties for bus operators who drop off passengers outside of designated times and locations or without a permit. The dynamic has played out elsewhere as well, sending some migrants to New Jersey suburbs of New York City.

    As the suburban drop-offs near Chicago have grown in number, residents who are concerned about the well-being of the migrants have raised funds and collected supplies. Many municipalities have quickly passed rules limiting buses similar to the restrictions set in Chicago, hoping to stay out of the fray. And some suburban residents are approaching their elected officials with growing alarm, making their feelings clear: We don’t want any part of the migrant crisis.

    Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago, who leads a city of 2.7 million people, has signaled that he wants other Illinois cities to help accommodate the newly arrived migrants.

    On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson said he would like Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, a fellow Democrat, to set up new shelters for migrants outside of Chicago. While there are already 28 shelters in the city, Mr. Johnson said Chicago’s resources are stretched by the number of new migrants in its care — more than 14,000, at last count — and he has no plans to create more shelters.

    “Shelters do not have to solely be set up and built in the city of Chicago,” Mr. Johnson said. “The state can do it wherever they want.”

    Oak Park, a city just west of Chicago, has devoted hundreds of thousands of dollars to support migrants, including federal funds, and last week it extended shelter aid for another month. Other suburbs have seemed far less eager to become involved.

    In Naperville, a prosperous suburb of Chicago that is the fourth-largest city in Illinois, one City Council member has pushed back on the notion that any public funds should be used to support asylum seekers.

    Josh McBroom, who describes himself as politically conservative, dryly suggested at a recent council meeting that Naperville residents who are in favor of helping migrant families were welcome to host them in their own homes.

    In an interview, Mr. McBroom said that no one has taken him up on his idea so far.

    Instead, he said, the unspoken wish by many residents is for migrants to leave Naperville as quickly as they arrive. “Get on the train, go to Chicago, nice to meet you but keep moving,” he said, voicing what he believes to be a dominant attitude in town.”

    https://archive.is/LTDui

    Key quote:

    “The state can do it wherever they want.”

    And they will. Your property taxes WILL be paying for this, regardless of where you live.

    Jonathan Greenblatt hand rubbing intensifies…

    1. “Get on the train, go to Chicago, nice to meet you but keep moving”

      IIUC, these are the exact words said by the government of Mexico.

      Glad to see these migrants dropped off in suburbs, even if temporarily. It might grab a few more votes for Trump.

      1. Glad to see these migrants dropped off in suburbs, even if temporarily. It might grab a few more votes for Trump.

        I wonder if I sent Gov. Abbott $10K if he would drop a bus load of migrants off in front of my TDS buddy’s 5 acre “estate” in an equestrian community

      2. Chicago suburbs flipped blue several decades ago. They aren’t coming back. Too many foreign born Democrat loyal voters along with AWFLs. I live in one of the few purplish places left that goes 60D/40T. My specific precinct voted 52R/48D last election but that’s pretty crazy. The suburbs I grew up in used to be Republican and within 20 years, the natives all fled for WI and FL, and were replaced by foreign born democrat voters. It’s the united nations here now.

  9. Denver Public Schools needs classroom donations due to influx of migrant students (1/28/2024):

    “Denver Public Schools is feeling the pressure from a spike in migrant students.

    About 2,900 new students have enrolled in DPS since October. The school system has been getting about 100 migrant students each week since the window closed in October.

    Lyly Zaragoza has been a dual-language teacher at McMeen Elementary for the last five years. It’s what she calls her true calling.

    Zaragoza has seen a lot of changes since she first got into the profession.

    “Definitely the class sizes,” said Zaragoza. “My first classroom, I had 14 kids. It was a really easy first year, I was really lucky.”

    Like most of the school’s dual-language classrooms, her class size has more than doubled.

    “This year we have 31. A lot of our kids that we’re getting are migrant students who are fleeing Venezuela, I believe. So, they had their schooling interrupted, or never gone to school,” said Zaragoza.

    https://kdvr.com/news/local/denver-public-schools-needs-classroom-donations-due-to-influx-of-migrant-students/

    Never gone to school?

    U.S. taxpayers, bend over and spread those cheeks wide, because you are paying for ALL of this. Kiss those property taxes goodbye, slaves.

    1. Never gone to school?

      That sure doesn’t jive with the Narrative that their parents are skilled workers who just need a “work permit” to get started on the “American Dream”.

      If the kids are unschooled and illiterate, so are the parents, which brings up the question: how did they make the long journey here? Who helped and guided them? I don’t recall stories of hungry caravaners in Mexico, where they were very defiant against the police. They look well fed and well clothed to me.

      1. Even if they are unskilled workers, haven’t we maxed out that market already? Yes, money was saved with POCs replaced whites. Money was saved again when undocumenteds replaces POCs. But now there’s no incentive to replace the current undocumenteds with new undocumenteds. The only thing these new workers will do is double the size of the day labor pool in the parking lots.

        1. I don’t think they are being imported for cheap labor. I think they are going to be weaponized. Millions of angry young men who didn’t get what they were “promised” will be easy to stir up. They can be told that if they riot they will be given all the free sh!t the UN funded NGO workers told them was waiting for them once they crossed the Rio Grande.

    2. U.S. taxpayers, bend over and spread those cheeks wide, because you are paying for ALL of this. Kiss those property taxes goodbye, slaves.

      And not just that, these illiterate kids are going to bring down the level of instruction in the classroom. Of course, these being DPS schools that level was probably already very low. And DPS enrollment has been in free fall, with talk of closing and merging schools.

      As for Denver taxpayers having to fund all this, they voted for it, so they can crack their wallets open. I’m sure most are silently thanking TABOR.

    3. 14! 31! When I was a kid, there were 60 (maybe a little more) in my grammar school class. The desks were right against the windows, the back and the closets lining one side of the room. There was hardly any room between the rows for the nuns to get down to smack you. Now, let me tell you how many miles I had to walk to school when I was a kid (joke, first part about class size/smacking, true.) 😂

      1. Parochial schools used to be very inexpensive. Fast forward to the present and only the upper middle class can afford them.

    4. Don’t you know that EQUITY means spending 40% more per student for low-income and ESL students vs. non-low income students to the get the ‘same high quality education?’ This will be a life long problem, these people will form their own communities, never assimilate, and be like Europe with its ghettos of foreigners who all live off the dole.

  10. Russia Today — Soros funding Democrat’s push in US border state (1/28/2024):

    “Billionaire currency speculator George Soros is behind at least five liberal groups seeking to flip the Republican stronghold of Texas for the Democrats in the 2024 US presidential election, Fox News reported on Sunday, citing campaign finance records.

    The current Republican governor of Texas is engaged in a stand-off with the White House over control of the state’s border amid a wave of unprecedented illegal immigration into the country.

    Soros, according to Fox, has contributed over $3 million to a network of political action committees (PACs) in the state. He is the only funding source for one, the Texas Majority PAC, donating with his Democracy PAC II a total of $2.25 million last year.

    A representative for the Texas Majority PAC told the Texas Tribune that the donations were meant to assist the organization in mobilizing the vote “on a scale never seen before, year after year in the key regions of our state.” As for finances, the group was just getting started, deputy executive director Katherine Fischer said in a statement, insisting “we need millions of more dollars and hundreds of more full-time staff to do this.”

    https://www.rt.com/news/591424-soros-bankrolls-democrat-push-texas/

    Currency speculator?

    Note that globalist scum media usually refers to this vermin as a “philanthropist” because that’s what globalist scum media does.

    Russia Today correctly notes that this vermin’s “profession” is one in which there is no productive work, because he is the epitome, if not the apex of, the Parastite Class.

    1. Billionaire currency speculator George Soros is behind at least five liberal groups seeking to flip the Republican stronghold of Texas for the Democrats

      not sure how I made the list, but I get emails and texts requesting money to defeat Ted Cruz, I live in NC

      1. About 45 minutes after I posted the above I got a text saying Colin Alredd was statistically tied with Ted Cruz.
        Then they asked for 25.

  11. A report from the Courier Journal in Kentucky. “In the greater Louisville area, December 2023 marked the 24th consecutive month of year-over-year declines in existing home sales. ‘Brutal,’ Mike Frank, a senior mortgage broker at Homestretch Mortgage in Louisville, said of 2023.”

    – “Funny,” no one was complaining when sales and prices were “to the moon.” BTW , why, exactly were prices to the moon? Because the f’ing Guberment and Fed massively intervened in the “markets.”

    – In other words, they blew another serial asset bubble. Think serial killer and you won’t be far wrong. In this case, the victim is the economy.

    – Asset bubbles always burst. There will be pain in the real economy, but no one in the Socialist Guberment, which includes the Fed, will lose their job, head, or other experience any adverse consequences whatsoever. The economy is now completely FUBAR. Prove me wrong.

    1. “In the greater Louisville area, December 2023 marked the 24th consecutive month of year-over-year declines in existing home sales.”

      – BTW, sales volume leads home prices. Also job losses in the coming recession and falling stonk prices both cause falling home prices.

      – Bonus question: What’s the direction of home prices going forward?

      – In my view, we’ll all be extremely lucky to avoid a depression due to the bursting of the everything bubble. CRE + MFH are fine though. The consumer is strong. /s

    2. The economy is now completely FUBAR.

      Very FUBAR. There is a wave of non chain restaurants closing here across the county due to rising costs and lack of business as the “strong consumer” has less and less discretionary income to spend.

      1. Went out with daughter on 7 PM Saturday night to small Chinese restaurant. No one there, a little shocking.

          1. A couple of weeks ago, her hostility vanished as suddenly as it came. Way more complicated than that, though. Started when my mother passed away and husband retired. The family dynamic changed.

            They both pretty much ignored me when I was sick, though they were still coming to me with their problems. I felt like I was dying, so I was hugely pissed, and said so. Everything went even further downhill from there. Hubby (six years older than me) may be getting a little addled, and he completely withdrew. Thank God for my brother, or no one would have fed/helped me. Daughter apologized the other day. Said she didn’t know what to do.

            Life is strange 🤦🏼‍♀️

  12. The Atlantic — Is Congress Really Going to Abandon Ukraine Now? (1/27/2024):

    “The looming end of American aid to Ukraine is not a policy decision. For two years, the Biden administration successfully led an international coalition to provide not soldiers but rather military aid to Ukraine. Officials convened regular meetings, consulted with allies, pulled in military support from around the world. Majorities in the U.S. continue to support Ukraine.”

    ^ This is a LIE.

    “Majorities in both houses of Congress do too. The Senate is said to have its legislation almost ready to go. But now, for reasons that outsiders find impossible to understand, a minority of Republican members of Congress, in a fit of political pique, are preparing to cut it all off. They might succeed.

    Many different, bad choices led to this moment. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision last summer to cut Ukraine out of a larger budget bill was the first. The strange idea to link Ukraine aid to controversial changes to U.S. immigration law and border policy was the second. The ballots cast by voters in Iowa and New Hampshire then put Donald Trump on a seemingly unstoppable path to the Republican presidential nomination; Trump’s telephone calls to Republican senators, telling them to kill the Ukraine/border legislation, suddenly mattered. His motives are blatantly selfish: He wants the U.S.-Mexico border to remain chaotic so that he can use the issue in his campaign. He doesn’t want Biden to benefit from any perceived solution or progress. And he doesn’t care if Ukraine runs out of ammunition as a result.

    To the outside world, none of the logic behind any of these decisions makes sense. All they can see is that the American political system has been hijacked and rendered dysfunctional by a radical, pro-Russian faction led by Trump—a disgraced ex-president who used violence and deceit to try to remain in office.

    By abandoning Ukraine in a fit of political incompetence, Americans will consent to the deaths of more Ukrainians and the further destruction of the country. We will convince millions of Europeans that we are untrustworthy. We will send a message to Russia and China too, reinforcing their frequently stated belief that the U.S. is a degenerate, dying power.”

    https://archive.is/kEL7C

    Nobody outside the Beltway supports Ukraine. Nobody.

    1. “doesn’t care if Ukraine runs out of ammunition”

      Related article.

      Russia Today — Ukraine reveals $40mn mortar shells fraud scheme (1/28/2024):

      “The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has announced the uncovering of a major embezzlement scheme involving high-ranking Defense Ministry officials and a private arms manufacturer.

      Five suspects attempted to steal 1.5 billion hryvnia (around $39.6 million) in state funds intended for acquiring mortar shells for Ukrainian troops fighting Russia, the SBU alleged in a statement on Saturday.

      According to the agency, the company Lviv Arsenal, based in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, had received an order from the Defense Ministry to provide a batch of 100,000 rounds in August 2022, six months after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

      Lviv Arsenal took payment of the total sum stipulated in the contract and transferred part of the funds to a foreign firm that was supposed to supply the rounds to the Ukrainian military.

      However, that firm “didn’t send a single mortar shell to our country” but instead put the money in the accounts of an affiliated company “based in the Balkans,” the SBU said.

      https://www.rt.com/news/591398-ukraine-corruption-ammunition-sbu/

      1. How’s your Monday so far, tax slaves?

        Please work hard today and generate more federal income taxes to pay for another phony war.

        Antiwar (1/28/2024):

        “Some US senators are calling for direct strikes on Iran in response to the killing of three American troops in a drone attack in Jordan near the Syrian border.

        “The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East. Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said in a statement.

        In a post on X, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called for the Biden administration to “strike targets of significance inside Iran.” He added: “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.”

        Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) also took to X to call for war with Iran. “Target Tehran,” he wrote.

        https://news.antiwar.com/2024/01/28/senators-call-for-us-to-bomb-iran-in-response-to-drone-attack-in-jordan/

        An “outpost” in Jordan?

        What’s that doing there? Remember when Congress voted on that … oh wait 🙁

        1. How’s your Monday so far, tax slaves?

          Kiddo’s been on the couch and barfing for 2 days. He’s not so good about making it in the bowl or toilet.

          4. Still sick today. Pediatrician gave him Zofran yesterday and a prescription for more. We had an ultimately pointless trip to the ER last night with a 102.3 fever and bouncing the next Zofran dose.

  13. Kinda interesting.
    Dr Malone sued Dr Jane Ruby and Dr Breggins for 25 million for defamation.
    The case just got dismissed by a Court.
    Now Judge has to decide if Dr Malone has to pay the attorney fees of the Defendants.
    I mentioned this case a long time ago.Apparently the Plaintiff Dr Malone didn’t like these Defendant Dr’s stating some opinions they made about him.
    So far apparently one reason for dismissal of case was the case was filed in wrong Court Jurdiction. Also, they are awaiting the other grounds for dismissal on full grounds by Judge.
    If I remember right, the Plaintiff Dr’s had said something about Dr Malone being possible controlled opposition.
    Anyway, Dr Malone sued other agencies also like the Washington Post and Twitter for Deflammation also.
    Look at all the Doctors that were slandered by the news media during Covid.
    I think news media wants to establish right to slander and call stuff disinformation , etc.
    So, the question is was Malones cases fake controlled opposition cases to establish media right to slander.

    1. NPR — How long does my post-COVID protection last? When is it booster time? (1/28/2024):

      “Our experts say it’s ideal to get boosted about every six months to keep your immunity at its highest. Even if you can’t manage to get boosted that often, epidemiologist Jeremy Kamil says that at a minimum you should aim to get boosted once a year.

      And yes, a new variant might emerge that the vaccine isn’t specifically designed to target. Professor of pharmacology Tim Brown says that which variant is circulating shouldn’t play into your decision to get boosted.

      In developing the updated booster vaccines, scientists try to predict what variants will be circulating in the next several months just as they do for the annual flu shot. But this process isn’t perfect. For example, the spike protein variant used in the current boosters doesn’t exactly match the spike protein of the newly emerged JN.1 variant.

      But Brown says you should get the booster if you’re due for one anyway. “Even though the vaccine may not be directly [designed for] the variant, the vaccine still helps your body protect itself against the infection. You may still get COVID but the symptoms will be less serious,” he says.

      And even though the current booster not being tailored for JN.1, Dr. Abraar Karan says there’s data suggesting the vaccines help prevent long COVID and other severe symptoms – another reason to look to keep up with boosters.”

      https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/01/28/1226882337/coronavirus-faq-how-long-does-my-post-covid-protection-last-when-is-it-booster-t

      1. What a joke, who still believes the experimental vaccine offers any protection? And every six months? Even the also worthless flu shot is only recommended every twelve months. And they even admit the latest booster probably won’t be effective against the current variant.

        Meanwhile, all of the people I know who keep catching the latest variant are jabbed and boosted.

        1. “Even the also worthless flu shot is only recommended every twelve months.”

          Careful, that last flu shot was a doozy!

      2. From the CDC: “COVID-19 vaccine uptake is lower than we’d like to see, and most people will be without the added protection that can reduce the severity of COVID-19. Based on National Immunization Survey (NIS) data, an estimated 14% of US adults have gotten an updated COVID-19 vaccine through November 4, 2023”

        Added protection? Reduce severity? Nobody wants to hear that crap. And uptake is still only 14%, despite every radio and TV station trotting out various “experts” to push the dang thing. Give it up already.

        1. I remember when someone who was jabbed and still died of Covid, and the news report mentioned it was a good thing the person who died was jabbed, as it could have been worse.

  14. Also, it doesn’t make sense that Dr Malones Attorney would file the case against Dr Ruby and Dr Breggins in a totally wrong State and wrong Court. Just saying the whole thing is weird.

    1. Steven Biss has had 4 disciplinary actions (2 suspensions and 2 reprimands). His current status is “not in good standing” with the Virginia State Bar.

      1. I imagine it’s slim pickings for a contigency-based defamation attorney against deep pockets.

          1. Lawfare has devolved into kangaroo courts where every participant from the judges, lawyers and juries want to play their part in the pre-determined outcome. They no longer care for the rule of law, they only care to destroy their ideological opponent.

  15. Also, another weird thing.
    The news reports of health care workers in Colorado taking a live ebola vaccine.
    They show this Doctor smiling and glad all over after taking a live ebola vaccine.
    Now seriously, if you were a health care worker, or Dr, would you be glad all over to take a live ebola vaccine.
    Your talking about ebola, something usually confined to Africa.

    1. DENVER — A few medical employees at Denver Health made history Monday as some of the first people to receive the live Ebola vaccine for preventative measures, the hospital said.

      Denver Health is the hospital that is bankrupt due to treating invaders for free. I’m gonna guess that some of those people are from Africa and the staff were told to get the ebola jab because of the risk.

      1. “Ebola vaccine”

        371,000 is the reported number of border crossers in December, highest single month on record to date.

        How many more can the Unelected Occupant import between now and the election? Another 5, 10, 20 million?

        1. And that number doesn’t include all those who were not processed by the border patrol. Who knows what the real number is?

          What is interesting is how they are keeping these millions mostly out of sight. You don’t see invaders in nice suburbs, at least not yet. Granted, they show up in the news, as the media tries to drum up sympathy and support for them, but suburbanites keep telling themselves “they won’t come here”. Anyway, this is one reason why I think the plan is to weaponize them.

          Keep them out of sight , maybe even prep and train them, then turn them loose during the 2024 Summer of Love and Mostly Peaceful Rioting. Blue Governors and Mayors will order guardsmen and police to stand down. When Americans defend their families and properties with force, declare them to be supremacists and enemies of the state.Then when it really gets out of hand, declare a state of emergency.

          1. You don’t see them because they are being installed in every little red state town they can find to dump them in. Eastern TN is starting to feel like California. It’s mind blowing what they are getting away with.

          2. Are these small towns rolling out the welcome mat, paying for them to stay in hotels, feeding them, etc. Or are the feds paying for that? Odd that they would do it in podunk but not in Dumver or other large metros.

          3. The invaders are swarming middle and working class suburbs. You don’t see it because you don’t go there. Look up the demographics of the elementary schools in your working class areas. The schools are trending more and more hispanic every year. Illinois’s second largest city – Aurora, a suburb of Chicago – has elementary schools that are nearly 100% hispanic and high schools that are 90% hispanic, and nearly half of those kids are ESL, and if you’re ESL in 10th grade in an all hispanic school, that means you’re an illegal border crosser. The Chicago suburbs, and I’m sure many suburbs all around the country, are turning into third world barrios. You and I don’t notice because we don’t go there, or only travel through the main streets, but slowly watch all businesses close, to be replaced by taco joints, mexican bakeries, liquor stores and boost mobiles. That’s pretty much 80% of hispanic communities and strip malls.

  16. Chinese developer Evergrande to be liquidated after debt talks fail: reports (Marketwatch)
    Last Updated: Jan. 28, 2024 at 10:54 p.m. ET
    —————
    “Troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande faces liquidation after failing to reach a restructuring deal with its creditors, according to multiple reports Sunday night.

    The Wall Street Journal reported that talks between Evergrande 3333, -20.87% and its creditors began last week with the hope of reaching a deal that would let the company continue to operate, according to the Journal, which cited sources familiar with the matter.

    But those talks failed, and a Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the company’s liquidation, in a stunning fall from grace, the New York Times and Bloomberg reported. Once China’s largest property developer, Evergrande has more than $300 billion in liabilities.

    “Enough is enough,” Judge Linda Chan said in her ruling, according to the Journal.”
    ————–

    FINALLY. This has been dragging on for years on end. Put it out of its misery and move on.

    1. For comparison, the Lehman Brothers liquidation started after debt restructuring negotiations collapsed in Fall 2008 and dragged on for years on end until 2022, ~14 years.

      Does that agree with your suggestion to “put it out of its misery and move on”?

      1. China is tightening the screws on short selling to prop up its ailing stock market
        Yuheng Zhan
        Jan 29, 2024, 12:43 PM CST
        Read in app
        China Securities Regulatory Commission
        VCG via Getty Images

        – Policymakers in China are cracking down on lending shares to short a stock.

        – New rules will ban big investors from lending shares during lock-up periods, per Bloomberg.

        – Officials have announced a handful of market and economic support measures in recent weeks.
        …
        https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-stock-market-economic-outlook-short-selling-economy-2024-1

  17. If you were the One World Order, you would have some serious problems with long standing law and Constitutional protections in the US.
    It’s obvious one way around it is to transfer by TREATY powers to WHO to supercede standing law and Constitutional protections under global Health Policy emergency Panademics, climate change, etc.
    Another way would be to make mincemeat of long standing laws, by new rulings by corrupt Courts.
    For instance, Monopoly Corporations being able to mandate vaccines under Osha Powers, eventually defeated in High Court. Yet, the damage was done for a long time by Monopoly Corporations mandating vaccines.
    The censoring of free speech , calling it disinformation, and the assertion of right to pervent ” vaccine hesitancy “, and obstruct any dispute to “safe and effective “narrative . OBSTRUCTION of known consent to prevent vaccine hesitancy isn’t standing law, or right by government or Big Pharmacy.
    The attacks on Trump, or Jan 6th Defendants have been kangaroo court proceedings. Judges denying evidence rights for defendants , etc.
    NOW, does Texas or any State have right to Defend against foreign invasion of borders.
    No matter how these cases end up, the untold damage is done in the meantime.
    Court Cases take to long on time is of the essence issues. States sueing Plizer for fraud advertising takes to long, in the meantime the fraud kills and injures masses of people.
    Just saying that never before has their been such violation of long standing laws by Entities based on new assertions of fabricated rights.

  18. Colorado,
    Much information about the shedding of vaccines, all vaccines apparently.
    Live elbola vaccines would shed the live ebola.
    Vaccines are not something just confined to body of the person jabbed apparently ,according to numerous Dr’s and Scientists now.
    How long shedding lasts is being debated as well as covered up and censored on MSM.

      3. Oxide,
        After years of your sources proved to be making their shit up, it must be fun attacking me implying I’m making shit up.
        I don’t make shit up, and if it’s opinion I’m expressing it pretty obvious when I’m doing so.

  19. Consider the fact that the Border Invaders have brought enough fenneyal across the border to kill 6 billion people.
    Guns aren’t the only potential weapons to kill.
    And Biden wants to make a deal that if Congress/Senate gives him 100 billion for his Ukraine/ Isreal wars, he will close the borders ,
    reserving right to let 5 thousand in a day.
    Heard that the goal by 2030 by One World Order is 300 million to invade USA borders.

    1. Again, do you have a source for this? 300 million to invade? Even Mexico can’t ship that many people. And are there going to 300 million to Europe too?

      1. To piggyback on that, this statement is also crying out for a fact check:  “…the Border Invaders have brought enough fenneyal across the border to kill 6 billion people.”

      2. 300 million is slightly less than half of the US population. I can understand how you might think this is a wildly unreasonable number to hit, however, if we look at California we see that they have already passed 25% foreign born. The most populated state is already half way to the goal. It’s not as unlikely as you might think.

        In regards to fentanyl, it takes a surprisingly small amount to kill someone and they are sending very large quantities. Some of the busts that have occurred have very large potential kill rates. It is already one of the leading causes of death and people are literally dying in the streets in places like Philly but somehow it doesn’t make the news. There are live webcams in Kensington where you can watch people die in real time and see other zombies come pick their pockets as they lay dead in the street. The cops will even drive right by and not stop. You have probably never heard of any of this and will dismiss it as conspiracy theory or some such but that doesn’t change the fact that it is actually happening. Just keep voting blue no matter who, I’m sure it will all be fine. In fact, Philly just elected their first strong black woman named Cherelle to lead the city! Everything’s going to be ok!!

        1. 300 million is slightly less than half of the US population.

          I took a looksie. Per the census bureau the US population is just shy of 335 million.

          2. Thanks for pointing that out, I’m not sure why I messed up that calculation since I know very well what the average US population is. Sometimes I’m doing two things at once. My point is mainly that it isn’t such a wild stretch of the imagination. California has already hit over 25% foreign born which is around 10 million people. If each one of them only brings in one more friend or family member through chain migration, which is not at all unrealistic, then they wind up at half the state being foreign born. This doesn’t even take into account all of the babies they will have once here. It is a very dynamic process and it is well underway.

            To look at it another way, just a 2% yearly population growth rate will cause a doubling of the population in about 35 years which isn’t really that long. It would only take 6 million a year to do that. The current resident is showing us that it is not only possible but is well along and intentional.

            The fentanyl thing is well along and intentional as well even if some of the numbers thrown around sound ridiculous. The trends are what matters.

      3. Even Mexico can’t ship that many people

        That would be about 50 million per year. We’re gonna need more buses.

  20. According to the Star Weekly article, there are labor shortages in Australia. I know where there are a bunch of people (in particular, young, able-bodied men) looking for work right now. In addition to looking for work, they’re looking to warm up!

    1. ” I know where there are plenty of able bodied men looking for work”

      so yer saying there a plenty of Home Depot parking lots in Australia, mate? good on ya’.

      1. I’m sure Oz can fill those slots with Asians.

        I am sure they will as will many other Asian countries.
        Singapore has a fairly large foreign work force as most of the waitstaff I’ve met is from someplace else.
        Foreign workers also common in parts of Malaysia. Difference is those workers are Documented and the workers/clients pay a “broker” to get them work permits. People are not let in by the millions.

  21. It is unclear exactly how many of the farmer’s 140 demands the French government can actually meet, given that many of the stifling green agenda regulations were imposed by the EU. However, farmers groups and populist politicians have noted that Macron’s party in Brussels was a principal backer of the climate change cause and, therefore, is still to blame.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/01/29/siege-of-paris-farmers-shut-down-major-roads-to-french-capital-in-protest-against-green-agenda/

      1. “He drew on the comparison of the 1980s for context, explaining that in 1982 unemployment was at around 10% while the stock market had sat stagnant for 15 to 20 years. Even with the Vietnam War, America’s debt-to-GDP ratio was around 35%, Dimon said, whereas today it sits at 100%.”

        But today it doesn’t matter because the woke, non-binary, paragons of virtue in Washington DC have ushered in MMT; they’ll print until frowns on Wall street turn upside-down!

  23. ‘It’s kind of hard to make the numbers work for new construction, and interest rates have made it harder to buy, or basically to sell, because they have to offer a reduced price’

    So everybody is fooked John, that’s the spirit!

  24. The union representing U.S. Border Patrol agents has declared that its agents “appreciate and respect” Texas’ efforts to secure its border amid escalating tensions between the Lone Star State and the Biden Administration.

    For weeks, the federal government and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have clashed after the National Guard took control of the 47-acre Shelby Park area in Eagle Pass, Texas. The Texas National Guard has been accused of denying board patrol agents access to the park, leading to multiple legal battles over access.

    In a Jan. 26 post on X (formerly Twitter), the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), the labor union representing agents and support staff, said that Border Patrol agents have no issue with Texas’ efforts to secure its border. The NBPC added that if there are any reports suggesting otherwise, they are simply untrue.

    “Rank-and-file Border Patrol agents appreciate and respect what TX has been doing to defend their state in the midst of this catastrophe that the Biden Admin has unleashed on America,” the NBPC said.

    “We want to be perfectly clear, there is no fight between rank-and-file BP agents and the TX National Guard, Gov. Abott, or TX Department of Public Safety.”

    Last week, the Supreme Court voted in favor of granting the federal government the power to remove barriers installed along stretches of the Texas border. However, Mr. Abbott has argued that nothing prevents him from ordering the National Guard to erect additional barriers and razor wire.

    “President Biden has violated his oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress,” Mr. Abbott said in a statement.

    “Instead of prosecuting immigrants for the federal crime of illegal entry, President Biden has sent his lawyers into federal courts to sue Texas for taking action to secure the border.”

    Mr. Abbott’s stance has gained support from governors in 25 states across the country. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) has since called on President Biden to take control of the National Guard if Texas defies the Supreme Court ruling. The NBPC has cast doubt on whether its agents would assist the Biden Administration with any action because the “rank-and-file” in the Border Patrol and the National Guard have great “respect for each other.”

    “Rank-and-file BP agents are not going to start arresting TX NG members for following their LAWFUL orders. That’s fake news,” the NBPC said.

    “If TX NG members have LAWFUL orders, then they have to carry out those orders. TX NG members realize that rank-and-file BP agents have their orders as well.”

    The NBPC also implied that its agents might consider ignoring orders that could be considered unlawful or from a less-than-reputable source.

    “Lawful orders, no matter how unpopular or distasteful amongst rank-and-file agents, must be followed,” the NBPC said.

    “Unlawful orders, as determined by competent legal counsel and not what some outhouse lawyer behind a keyboard says, will not be followed.”

    Enforcing immigration law has traditionally fallen under the federal government’s purview. The Texas state government has cited its constitutional right to have the “sovereign authority to protect its borders because the President refuses to enforce federal immigration laws.” This stance comes as the state struggles to cope with a record-breaking number of illegal immigrants crossing into its territories.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/border-patrol-union-posts-defiant-message-says-agents-have-no-issue-with-texas-border-stance-5575703

  25. In answer to question above on source for 6 billion lethal doses of fentanyl.
    Lots of articles today on it.
    Here is one from the Washington Examiner.

    “ENOUGH FENTANYL STOPPED AT BORDER IN PAST YEAR TO KILL ALL 330 Americans 30 TIMES.”
    The article goes on to state 6 billion lethal doses of fentanyl.
    A bunch of articles on it.
    One World Order comment that they have a goal of 300 million migrants to invade US by 2030, was statement by talking heads, that didn’t reveal their source. Talking heads are opinion pieces.
    So , I think I mentioned they were talking heads on that supposition on goals of One World Order to have 300 million invade by 2030.

    1. User
      Is this a true statement?

      “ENOUGH FENTANYL STOPPED AT BORDER IN PAST YEAR TO KILL ALL 330 Americans 30 TIMES.”

      ChatGPT
      It’s challenging to verify the accuracy of such a statement without more context or specific data sources. However, if it refers to the amount of fentanyl seized at the border, it’s plausible that enough fentanyl has been intercepted to cause significant harm, although the exact comparison provided might be exaggerated for emphasis.

      1. “…TO KILL ALL 330 Americans 30 TIMES.”

        ‘ChatGPT
        It’s challenging to verify the accuracy of such a statement without more context or specific data sources.’

        I can verify the accuracy:

        – Unless you change “ALL 330 Americans” to ” ALL 330 million Americans”, the statement is nonsensical.

        – “Artificial intelligence” is inferior to human intelligence, due to the inability to verify the accuracy of statements.

        1. Professor Bear,
          I stand corrected that I left out “million” when I copied the article headline. The following statement however stated the 6 billion lethal doses that was stated in the article.

          1. No worries! I knew that, and all of us occasionally leave out a detail.

            My point was that ChatGPT had no idea because Artificial Intelligence is not actual intelligence, and hence could not detect an obvious error.

        2. “Artificial intelligence” is inferior to human intelligence

          As you keep posting that trash here, one would suspect that you did not understand.

  26. Yahoo
    Benzinga
    Kevin O’ Leary Says You Need Millions On Hand To Survive — ‘You Have To Get To A Place Where You Have $5 Million In The Bank’
    Jeannine Mancini
    Mon, January 29, 2024 at 9:48 AM CST·3 min read

    Kevin O’Leary, Shark Tank star and investor, sparked significant discussion with his assertion that individuals need $5 million in their bank accounts to ensure lifelong financial stability.

    In an August 2023 YouTube video, O’Leary said, “You have to get to a place where you have $5 million in the bank,” emphasizing the importance of this amount to “survive the rest of your life, no matter what happens.” This statement, along with his detailed financial advice, has been a subject of both support and criticism among viewers and financial experts.

    This amount, when invested to yield an annual return of 6% to 7%, can generate $300,000 to $350,000 in passive income, significantly above the median household income.
    …
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kevin-o-leary-says-millions-154855017.html

    1. “You have to get to a place where you have $5 million in the bank,”

      I guess he doesn’t believe in inflation, insurance, or home equity ATM financing.

    2. How can everyone join the 1.3%?

      ChatGPT 3.5
      User
      What percent of Americans have over $5 million in the bank?

      ChatGPT
      As of my last update, which was in January 2022, approximately 1.3% of American households had a net worth exceeding $5 million. This percentage may have changed since then due to various economic factors and changes in wealth distribution.

  27. ‘We’re definitely seeing owners want to give up the properties, especially ones that were recently purchased, where their equity has likely been wiped out…If they had 10% or 15% equity in a building and the building is marked down 25% or 30%, they feel like they’re wiped out. They would probably be made full if they were a long-term owner, but a lot of them are looking to give back the keys’

    ‘That leaves another $5.5B that we’re going to have to figure something out on’ …‘Sometimes the values have deteriorated for office so fast that the borrower doesn’t want to put good money after bad, and the lender wants a paydown’

    Progress!

  28. On the topic of Reddit:

    “If the federal government helps as much as you claim with managing housing for migrants (which I’d sure love a source), then CO should have nothing to be worried about. Just pull on some of those federal resources, if they really exist, to build the housing for migrants. CO has been extremely pro migrant for decades, let’s now walk the walk – not be super nimby about it.”

    https://old.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/1adch7w/a_city_of_710000_struggles_to_cope_with_40000/

    Asking for a source?

    Pull on some of those federal resources?

    Sounds about right…

    1. Reddit?

      Migrant influx leaves Denver Public Schools short $17.5 million in funding as students keep enrolling:

      “I work in Cherry Creek schools. Don’t know if I’ll last the year with 35+ kids, many of whom don’t speak any English and we don’t have the resources to help them. So they get bored in class and wreak havoc.

      We were struggling to find people before this surge, we won’t have public school in some neighborhoods next year”

      https://old.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/1ad5c0k/migrant_influx_leaves_denver_public_schools_short/?limit=500

      At least there’s no more mean tweets now.

      “They’re not sending their best”

      1. 29 Reddit upvotes on this, because Replacers gonna Replace:

        “Not to mention that we need to replace all of their positions”

      2. We were struggling to find people before this surge, we won’t have public school in some neighborhoods next year

        Another symptom of the doom loop.

    1. Markets
      China property sector worries dent Asian shares; Fed in focus
      By Ankur Banerjee
      January 29, 2024 10:34 PM PST
      Updated 3 hours ago
      A woman climbs an escalator near residential buildings next to the Evergrande City Plaza, after a court ordered the liquidation of property developer China Evergrande Group, in Beijing, China.
      Acquire Licensing Rights

      SINGAPORE, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Asian stocks stumbled on Tuesday as the court-ordered liquidation of property giant China Evergrande weighed on sentiment while geopolitical tensions lifted oil prices and dented risk appetite ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting.

      U.S. Treasury yields remained under pressure in Asian hours, keeping a lid on dollar movement, after the Treasury Department said it would need to borrow less than its previous estimates.

      Uncertainty around how the court order to liquidate Evergrande Group
      will play out and its impact on the nation’s fragile property market is keeping investors on edge.

      Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 1.7%, with the mainland properties index down 3%. China stocks fell 0.69% and were on course for a near 4% drop for the month.

      China’s 10-year government bond yield dropped to the lowest in more than two decades as investors still expect more policy easing to defend equity markets after Beijing announced a cut to bank reserves last week.

      “The latest development is a reminder of the risks of investing in the Chinese real estate sector and the challenges that the sector faces on the road to recovery,” said Vasu Menon, managing director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
      …
      https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-01-30/

    2. Financial Times
      Opinion Lex
      China property: accelerating meltdown threatens other markets
      Nervousness over the risk of contagion could spread into commodities
      Country Garden headquarters in Foshan, China
      The market fears a default by Country Garden, previously one of China’s safest large developers
      September 25 2023

      The floorboards are giving way underneath the Chinese property companies. On Monday, share prices throughout the sector fell by the most this year. Evergrande dropped 21 per cent after it scrapped key creditor meetings at the last minute.

      There is still risk of contagion both within China and beyond. That nervousness could spread into commodities. Iron ore prices fell more than 4 per cent on Monday. This comes when seasonal demand from China has historically been strong. China buys about 70 per cent of the world’s seaborne iron ore. Chinese developers have stopped restocking steel.

      Price volatility tells the story. Already the market fears a default by Country Garden. A dollar bond of Country Garden, previously one of the safest large developers, fell below 10 cents on the dollar. China Aoyuan Group’s stock price fell 73 per cent. A court-ordered liquidation of China Oceanwide looms after a Bermuda court issued a winding-up order.
      …

    3. Bloomberg
      Markets
      China’s Implausible Steel Plunge Points to Oversupply Dilemma
      – Last ditch effort on production cap spurs 15% drop in December
      – Industry has been told to curb excess output and emissions
      By Bloomberg News
      January 29, 2024 at 5:45 PM PST

      Did China’s steel industry really get within a whisker of meeting Beijing’s production cap last year?

      If official data are to be believed, 2023 output ended up barely changed at just over 1 billion tons, thanks to an unprecedented 15% year-on-year plunge in output in the last month to a six-year low. In data going back to 2004, it’s only the second time that December has been lower than November, and never by that margin.
      …
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-30/china-s-implausible-steel-plunge-points-to-oversupply-dilemma?embedded-checkout=true

  30. Are you interested in making an investment in the ever-rising prices of US housing which may help put your fellow Americans out on the street?

    Read on!

    1. Benzinga
      The American Dream is Fading – Invest in Single Family Homes Before It’s Too Late
      Joey Solitro
      Mon, January 29, 2024 at 8:34 AM PST·3 min read
      In this article:

      As homeownership becomes elusive for many, investing in single-family real estate investment trusts (REITs) offers a viable avenue to access the real estate market.

      Explore how this investment option provides exposure and potential returns in the shifting landscape of home ownership.

      Invitation Homes

      Invitation Homes owns and manages a portfolio of approximately 80,000 single-family homes, making it one of the largest homeowners in the United States. About 96% of its portfolio is located in the Western U.S., Sunbelt, and Florida, and it’s more affordable to lease a home than it is to buy in all 16 of its core markets in these regions.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-dream-fading-invest-single-163452642.html

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