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They Couldn’t Have Foreseen What Was Going To Happen

A report from ABC 30 Fresno. “Chris Jurilla of US Bank says when interest rates do start to drop, more buyers, and more competition, will enter the housing market. He adds even though we’re seeing interest rates above 6%, you can always refinance in the future when the rates drop. ‘Properties always increasing in value, especially in California wherever you buy,’ Jurilla said.”

The Napa Valley Register in California. “More Napa County homeowners fell behind in their mortgage payments in 2023, the most since 2019. In addition, more local homes were lost to foreclosure this past year, also the highest number in four years. ATTOM reported that states that saw the greatest number of foreclosure starts in 2023 included California (with 29,180 foreclosure starts); Texas (28,533); Florida (27,427); New York (17,330); and Illinois (13,764). States that saw the most bank repossessions, also known as REOs, in 2023 included Illinois (with 3,814 REOs); Michigan (3,634); Pennsylvania (2,853); California (2,633); and New York (2,538).”

From The LAist. “Though it is internationally known for its catastrophic wildfires and earthquakes, California is no stranger to floods — particularly during the heavy rains that accompany its winters. In fact, 7 million Californians live in flood-prone areas. Despite this, just one in four Golden State homes sitting in what the federal government considers a flood hazard zone are covered by flood insurance. San Diego and Los Angeles, where the atmospheric river stalled out and dumped more than 10 inches of rain, were hit the hardest. Thousands of homeowners trying to repair the water damage are now in for a rude surprise when they discover that their standard-issue home insurance doesn’t cover floods.”

“In the eight Southern California counties where the governor has declared an emergency, roughly 52,000 homes and businesses are covered by flood insurance. That’s less than 1 percent of the total number of homes in the region. Flood coverage is mandatory for those obtaining a federally-backed mortgage in a part of the state that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has deemed a ‘special hazard flood area.’ However, FEMA, which runs the national flood insurance program, does not keep track of compliance with the rule. Neither do lenders. As a result, a homeowner may purchase a flood policy when they secure a mortgage but fail to renew it in subsequent years. A 2006 FEMA study found that compliance with the requirement ranged between 43 percent in the midwest and 88 percent in western states.”

“California, however, may be the exception in this latter region. Jeffrey Mount, a geomorphologist and a senior fellow at the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California found that just a quarter of homes in parts of the state with high flood risk comply with the federal rule. ‘Flood insurance uptake in California is half the national average. Nobody’s policing it,’ said Mount. ‘There’s no mechanism to go in and threaten people and say, ‘If you don’t get flood insurance, we’re going to take your mortgage away from you.’”

The Arizona Republic. “Two main northbound streets take Queen Creek and San Tan Valley residents into the metro Phoenix area, and both are quickly outgrowing their capacity. To alleviate that traffic congestion, an extension of State Route 24 has long been envisioned as critical. It also serves to add value to vacant state-trust land earmarked for major development, local leaders say. But state politics are starting to get in the way. Queen Creek resident Nancie Naylor is angry at the political impasse and said that Ellsworth Road is like a parking lot. ‘We’re treated like the red-headed stepchild,’ she said.”

“Naylor works from her Queen Creek home most days but when she needs to meet with clients she dreads the drive and tries to work around peak traffic hours. She and her neighbors share on social media word about any major traffic slowdowns to help each other maneuver the roads. San Tan Valley resident Jeanne Stockton also feels that she is getting brushed aside to fund Maricopa County projects. ‘We don’t get the funding we need but the ‘state of Maricopa’ gets all the funding they need,’ she said.”

The Washington Post. “In the heart of the country’s No. 1 hub for science research sit roughly 100,000 square feet of gleaming new lab and office space. A banner declares the site at One Canal is smack ‘in the epicenter of the world’s most impactful discoveries.’ This kind of prime real estate would typically get scooped up. But there isn’t much discovery — or, really, much of anything — happening inside. A chain-link fence blocks the entrance from a quiet side street. And the site is almost entirely empty. Similar scenes are cropping up all over Cambridge and neighboring Boston, where a massive influx of new lab space has scrambled the commercial real estate market. Of the 6.7 million square feet that finished construction last year, 62 percent is empty, according to data from the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. Another 8.1 million is still under construction — largely without tenants lined up.”

“All across the country, cities are in limbo. Places like Austin, New York and San Francisco have their own excess office space. Economists are wary of a ‘doom loop’ phenomenon that could turn empty downtowns into bigger economic hazards. Financial regulators are keeping a close eye on midsize banks that shoulder the bulk of commercial real estate loans, fearful of a wave of defaults. Speaking to 60 Minutes earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell put the challenge looming over the entire economy this way: ‘What we thought we were learning two years ago, we would look back and say – completely different now.'”

“A slew of venture capital firms focused on life sciences also touched down. The sector — linking government, academia, science and venture capital — became a cornerstone of Massachusetts’s economy. ‘Before the pandemic, it was seen as the only safe bet,’ said Mary Burke, a senior economist and policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. ‘In a way, they were smart. They couldn’t have foreseen what was going to happen.'”

“Unlike most office jobs, research was hard to do over Zoom. And now building lab spaces was cheaper than ever. Interest rates were near zero and looked likely to stay there for a while. For VC investors and private equity firms tied to real estate, that meant cash was cheap. And the money poured in. In 2018, about $25 billion in venture capital funding went toward life sciences, according to JLL. In 2020, almost $35 billion. In 2021, over $45 billion. A construction boom followed. By the end of 2023, supply had never been higher. And demand had never been lower. New buildings dot the area like cells in a petri dish.”

Soo Today in Canada. “The group of out-of-town corporations that received court-ordered protection from lenders after aggressively buying up hundreds of properties across northern Ontario — including more than 150 houses in Sault Ste. Marie — will now have that protection extended until the end of next month. The amended order extending the stay period — which typically prohibits collection proceedings or enforcement processes over existing debts — was formally approved Thursday by Ontario Superior Court Justice Jessica Kimmel, following a request for additional relief made by lawyers for the now-insolvent property owners during ongoing Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings.”

“While the group of shell corporations received additional relief, the same amended court order simultaneously dealt a blow to dozens of unsecured creditors: They are now cut off from court-appointed legal representation, which is being afforded to secured creditors only. One of those contractors, speaking to SooToday on the condition of anonymity, said they were assured by a representative for the group of shell corporations earlier this week that its outstanding debt to the Sault-based contractor will be paid off ‘in a few weeks.’ The contractor provided interior renovations, including painting and flooring, to a number of properties owned by the now-insolvent corporations in Sault Ste. Marie dating back to 2021.”

“‘That’s the hope, right? I don’t know the real truth,’ they said, when asked about the prospect of repayment. ‘I’m lucky they don’t owe me too much.'”

The Evening Standard. “House prices fell in all but six of London’s 33 local authority areas last year as the capital’s property was hit harder than any other region of the UK by soaring interest rates, new analysis reveals today. Prices fell in 26 boroughs and the City of London with the biggest declines seen in the most expensive neighbourhoods. The biggest single fall was in Westminster, where the average cost of a home plummeted almost 21% to £877,733. The loss in value in a single year, £232,015, is close to the average price of a home in many parts of the UK. In Kensington and Chelsea, the average price fell by 17.4%, or £236,346, while the City of London saw reductions averaging 16.6%, equivalent to £160,221. In Hammersmith and Fulham house prices fell by 13.2%, or £101,522.”

“Benham and Reeves director, Marc von Grundherr, said: ‘With house prices cooling during the later stages of last year, it’s the London market that has naturally been hit the hardest given the far higher cost of homeownership, with all but a handful of boroughs experiencing a decline. Largely speaking, this decline has been marginal in the grand scheme of things and the vast majority of boroughs have only seen slight corrections… However, the damage done across the prime market, in particular, has been far more pronounced, although the silver lining is, of course, that there’s never been a better time to buy at the very high-end of the London housing market.'”

The Telegraph. “Germany is ‘likely’ in recession as it grapples with strikes, a property slump and its faltering transition to net zero, according to its central bank. The Bundesbank warned there was no end in sight for the ‘ongoing period of weakness’ in Europe’s largest economy that began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. House prices in Germany suffered their biggest drop in 60 years in 2023 amid higher interest rates and the Bundesbank warned that new orders in the sector were ‘dwindling.'”

Free Malaysia Today. “It has been a year since China relaxed the zero-Covid measures that had been stifling economic activity, but the country has yet to experience the rebound that policymakers and pundits anticipated. Instead, economic indicators from the past year have painted a disheartening picture. The fallout from the massive property developer Evergrande’s 2021 collapse is far from over, and the sector continues to struggle, even after the government relaxed purchasing restrictions in cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai.”

“Compounding these problems are worries about high youth unemployment, cutbacks in public services, and salary reductions for public employees. But worst of all, private-sector confidence has eroded, threatening China’s ability to attract investment and sustain economic growth. Not surprisingly, a survey by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business of private firms across the country found widespread pessimism about the business environment and their ability to generate profits.”

“Business leaders view official statements as empty rhetoric, and they have not forgotten the recent high-profile arrests of entrepreneurs and draconian crackdowns on finance, technology, private tutoring, and real estate. This loss of confidence is reflected in China’s stock market, now ranked among the worst-performing globally. The youth-unemployment rate is another canary in the coal mine, since the private sector accounts for more than 80% of employment opportunities, according to government figures, and plays a critical role in innovation. Recent graduates are increasingly failing to find jobs. Zhang Dandan of Peking University estimates that the youth unemployment rate may be as high as 46.5%.”

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This Post Has 104 Comments

  1. ‘Flood insurance uptake in California is half the national average. Nobody’s policing it,’ said Mount. ‘There’s no mechanism to go in and threaten people and say, ‘If you don’t get flood insurance, we’re going to take your mortgage away from you’

    That’s some sound lending Jeff.

    1. Must be one of those “build back better” things we were told about?

      Live in the pod.
      Eat the bugs.
      Take the vaccines.
      You will be happy.

  3. ‘Queen Creek resident Nancie Naylor is angry at the political impasse and said that Ellsworth Road is like a parking lot. ‘We’re treated like the red-headed stepchild’

    This is deja vu all over again. This is the drive til you qualify thing doing its slow motion destruction.

    1. * “. . where a massive influx of new lab space has scrambled the commercial real estate market. Of the 6.7 million square feet that finished construction last year, 62 percent is empty, according to data from the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. Another 8.1 million is still under construction — largely without tenants lined up.”

      whats with all of THIS nonsense about the permits, taxes, inspection, rigamarole ?!! just rent a large metal shed in a grimy industrial area & run a garden hose thru a wall. DONE!

      If ya’ need more money, put a few of those unregulated rainbow-umbrella’d “fruit-a-teria” carts on every residential corner. DONE!

      git r’ dun, people. just GIT R’ DUNNN !!

      1. Don’t worry, there’s going to be plenty of fruit carts and since the fruit cart operators are conveniently all future doctors and scientists, those lab spaces will be scooped up in no time. It’s a new kind of pineapple express flooding the market! So progressive!!

      2. Lab space is very expensive and practically impossible to use for any other purpose. I guess if some execs want to sniff glue, they can do it in the hoods.

  4. ‘What we thought we were learning two years ago, we would look back and say – completely different now’

    That’s cuz you sux Jerry.

    ‘The sector — linking government, academia, science and venture capital — became a cornerstone of Massachusetts’s economy. ‘Before the pandemic, it was seen as the only safe bet,’ said Mary Burke, a senior economist and policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. ‘In a way, they were smart. They couldn’t have foreseen what was going to happen’

    A child could have seen it coming Mary.

    2. ‘Before the pandemic, it was seen as the only safe bet,’
      Anytime I see people calling something a “Safe bet/sure thing” I get real skeptical and avoid. Back in the late 70’s early 80’s oil geologist was a sure thing/safe bet so I become one, albeit very briefly. Then it no longer was a safe bet as oil fell from $40+ to $8/barrel.
      Stupid should hurt, and it did.

  5. Propaganda and lies from The Guardian.

    Voters may at last be coming round to Biden’s sunny view of the economy (2/20/2024):

    “After months of resilient hiring, better-than-expected economic growth and a declining rate of inflation, new data shows that Americans are becoming upbeat about the US economy, potentially reversing the deep pessimism Biden has struggled to counter for much of the past three years.”

    ^ This is a lie.

    “That trend could reshape campaigning ahead of November’s presidential election, in which Biden is expected to face off against Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Experts believe the president’s case for a second term will benefit from more optimistic views of the economy – but the hangover from the inflation wave that peaked a year and a half ago presents Republicans with a potent counterattack.

    “Over the last couple of years, people have been feeling the most pain on day-to-day spending, on things like groceries and gas prices and prescription drugs. And, fortunately, those prices are beginning to come down, which gives Democrats a stronger hand than we had just a few months ago,” said Adam Green, co-founder of advocacy group the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.”

    ^ Gas has quietly crept up from $2.49 to $2.79 in the last month, an over 10% increase.

    “While it’s not the only factor, pollsters have linked voters’ disapproval with Biden to the wave of price increases that peaked in June 2022 at levels not seen in more than four decades, and which have since been on the decline.”

    ^ Prices are not declining, this is a lie.

    “Evan Roth Smith, head pollster for the Democratic research firm Blueprint, said that lines up with his findings that voters care less about job growth and more about the fact that everything costs more.

    “Voters just felt a prioritization mismatch between what they were experiencing, the kind of pressures they were under, which isn’t that they didn’t have jobs, it’s that they couldn’t pay their bills,” Smith said.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/20/joe-biden-economy-voters-opinion

    Ask yourself, are you any better off now than you were in January 2021?

    1. I’ve noticed that Approved Globalist Narratives tend to get floated out first by the UK Guardian, Salon, and The Atlantic, then propagated across the rest of the globalist scum media.

    2. If you tell a lie often enough….except it doesn’t work when your personal situation is obviously the opposite.

      1. I think the goal is to make you think you are a loser, and that you won’t be able to make it without gooberment help, so vote for the Left.

    3. Voters may at last be coming round to Biden’s sunny view of the economy

      I stopped by the warehouse club store yesterday. A lot of shoppers (I guess almost everyone does get President’s day off). One thing I have been noticing is that people’s shopping carts aren’t full the way they used to be and what they do have tends to be cheaper stuff, like peanut butter. The meat counter looked a bit lonely and the rib eyes were sitting there unloved.

    4. “^ Gas has quietly crept up from $2.49 to $2.79 in the last month, an over 10% increase.”

      that’s a rounding error here in California.

    5. “voters care less about job growth ”

      Until it happens to them. Danielle DiMartino Booth has been hammering on this for months. People might grumble about inflation, but they can absorb rising prices, until they lose a job.

  6. “Chris Jurilla of US Bank says when interest rates do start to drop, more buyers, and more competition, will enter the housing market. He adds even though we’re seeing interest rates above 6%, you can always refinance in the future when the rates drop. ‘Properties always increasing in value, especially in California wherever you buy,’ Jurilla said.”

    Three realtor lies in a single paragraph. You’re a credit to your profession, Chris.

  7. Of the 6.7 million square feet that finished construction last year, 62 percent is empty, according to data from the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. Another 8.1 million is still under construction — largely without tenants lined up.”

    Welp, I guess these white elephants can be repurposed as housing for the millions of illegals that are flooding in.

    1. guess these white elephants can be repurposed as housing for the millions of illegals that are flooding in.
      Why repurpose the buildings? This is Democratic run MA, the illegals will all live in the spare bedrooms of the local residents.

    2. a massive influx of new lab space has scrambled the commercial real estate market. Of the 6.7 million square feet that finished construction last year, 62 percent is empty

      Dang. I was so hoping those buildings would be used to generate ever increasing amounts of junk science and fake vaccines, thereby keeping the populace in a perpetual drug-induced stupor created by Big Pharma.

  8. Speaking to 60 Minutes earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell put the challenge looming over the entire economy this way: ‘What we thought we were learning two years ago, we would look back and say – completely different now.’”

    Even by the competency standards of the Biden regime, how do BlackRock Jay & Yellen the Felon still have their jobs?

  9. Despite the developer’s initial plans for market rate condominiums, development had been stalled and this building left indefinitely empty– it would not have advanced as luxury housing. Instead of sitting vacant, this site will serve as high-quality transitional housing for long-term New York City families with children experiencing homelessness,”

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/02/20/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-reverses-plan-to-give-luxury-harlem-condos-to-migrants-after-public-outcry/

  10. Prices fell in 26 boroughs and the City of London with the biggest declines seen in the most expensive neighbourhoods.

    But…but…muh generational wealth!!

  11. “Interest rates were near zero and looked likely to stay there for a while. For VC investors and private equity firms tied to real estate, that meant cash was cheap. And the money poured in.”

    And then prices went up and – presto! – enormous quantities of “wealth” was created.

    Then interest rates began moving up which meant that cash was no longer cheap and hence the money stopped pouring in and – poof – the “wealth” that was magically created vanished.

    But the DEBT that was created due to the near zero interest rates – the debt that was creating the money that poured pour in and created the, er, wealth – what happened to it? Why, it is still there! OMG, the wealth vanished but the debt that created the wealth remains!

    Who could ever have thought that such a thing could happen?

    1. $34+ trillion of national debt.

      All fiat currencies will inevitably revert to their intrinsic value, which is zero.

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

  12. Google Lays Off Thousands More Employees Despite Record Profits One Year After Laying off 12,000 Employees As Workers Begin Worrying AI is Slowly Replacing Them

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-lays-off-thousands-more-210822278.html

    [snip …]

    “The layoffs have sparked widespread concern among Google employees, not just about job security but also about the ethical implications of their work, especially as the company continues to invest heavily in advancing AI technology. There’s a growing apprehension that the push towards automation and AI could eventually lead to further job replacements, adding to the existing anxiety over layoffs​​.”

    [So the Google workers created the AI that is now replacing them. Do I have that right?]

    1. Not everything Google touches turns into gold. A lot of googlers work on boondoggle projects that go nowhere and are perpetual money losers, and I suspect they are the ones getting the axe.

    2. It’s hard not to laugh about joogle employees being concerned about ethics, I doubt AI can do much worse than they have.

    3. If there’s a downside to seeing creepy Orwellian tech companies jettisoning “woke” employees who were Big Brother’s little helpers in censoring truth tellers from the internet, I’m not seeing it.

  13. [An interesting observation …]

    “The credit cycle has benefited from corporates playing the rate cycle deftly. Firms took advantage of rock-bottom rates at the start of the pandemic to extend the average duration of their debt. They have since been reducing average duration as rates have risen (either volitionally or out of necessity).

    “Firms in the aggregate have also structured their assets and liabilities so that they have been net interest receivers. That will slowly change as higher rates continue to bite, but for now corporate cash flows are unexpectedly healthy given the backdrop of the fastest rate-hiking cycle for decades.

    “There are risks: repressed volatility in equity markets may explode higher, and private credit markets could be concealing some very poor-quality loans. But for now, the credit cycle is in the midst of an upturn, with stock-market valuations a potent tailwind.”

    [Source:]

    https://ussanews.com/2024/02/20/rising-equity-valuations-are-helping-to-avert-a-credit-downturn-but/

  14. Ireland’s anti-immigration backlash has spiralled into country-wide unrest. Protests, arson attacks and hardening anti-immigration views have transfused Irish politics with a fervour not seen since the Troubles.

    I went to Ireland to make a documentary for The Telegraph to find out what Irish people make of the growing strife.

    I started my journey in Dublin, where hundreds of people turned out for an anti-immigration march. Amid a sea of Irish tricolour flags, protestors chanted “get them out” about the government over its support for mass migration – which many felt was conferring already sparse housing and public services to foreigners, to the detriment of Irish citizens. One woman said she was scared to leave the house because of the amount of “unvetted male people” who’ve arrived in Ireland in recent years.

    The Irish government were not the only villains of the event – much ire was directed at “higher powers’’, variously the European Union and the World Economic Forum. Leo Varadkar’s trip to Davos last month when anti-immigration protests across the country reached a high-point no doubt did little to disabuse them of the impression that his priorities lie elsewhere. Some gripes were flagrantly conspiratorial: Mr Varadkar’s government, not known for its Anglophilia, was accused multiple times of being in thrall to King Charles.
    I discussed the political fallout with Ben Scallan, a journalist for Gript, a media startup that has become a formidable challenger to the progressive orthodoxy espoused by the Irish government. “I think the Irish government is primarily concerned with appearing to be a modern European country,” Ben said. “They admire their European colleagues; they admire Scandinavian countries like Sweden which are progressive and very trendy.”

    Ben said he was baffled that the Irish government was repeating the blunders of its European neighbours by ramping up mass migration, with little consideration for the dissenting views of the Irish public. “It seems like having seen the failure of that policy in countries like Sweden, Germany and France, they want to replicate it for some reason that I don’t really understand.”

    There are some TDs who have spoken out against “unsustainable” levels of immigration in the Irish parliament. Six of them have formed a loose coalition called the Rural Independent Group. I sat down with one of their members, Carol Nolan, to hear their side of the story. “I have never seen the feeling as strong on the issue of immigration as it is now,” Ms Nolan said. “I do feel that people will protest at the ballot box and I do feel that if the government doesn’t change direction quickly…that they will be punished.”

    Ms Nolan said she felt anti-EU sentiment was being stoked by the government’s immigration policy. “There is a lot of frustration over the EU dictating everything a country should do – the numbers they should take in and so forth. So there is definitely frustration over that dictatorship as some people see it.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/mass-immigration-is-bringing-a-european-style-populist-revolt-to-ireland/ar-BB1iwszf

    1. Leo Varadkar’s trip to Davos last month

      The fact that they have a non Irish PM speaks volumes and explains why he is doing everything he can to flood the country with aliens. The country is now only 76% Irish. The goal of course is to make the Irish a small minority in their own country, much as Hawaiians are only 10% of Hawaii.

      “There is a lot of frustration over the EU dictating everything a country should do – the numbers they should take in and so forth. So there is definitely frustration over that dictatorship as some people see it.”

      That’s what happens when a sovereign nation “takes the ticket” with promises of economic prosperity but surrendering the self determination they fought so hard to achieve.

    2. Ben said he was baffled that the Irish government was repeating the blunders of its European neighbours by ramping up mass migration, with little consideration for the dissenting views of the Irish public.

      Blunders? Globalist Quisling governments are carrying out the directives of the sociopathic “elites” who are the intellectual authors & architects of the Great Replacement. All of the Establishment EU parties answer to the same bankster & oligarchy puppetmasters.

  15. The far right is gaining momentum in Europe ahead of EU elections and is converging with the right, centre-right, and liberals on policies and politics ahead of EU elections, the co-president of The Left group at the European Parliament, Manon Aubry, told Euractiv in an interview.

    Aubry is a French member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the left-wing party La France Insoumise, and one of the promoters of the initiative ‘Now the People’, a coalition of parties around the continent aiming to create a new left front in the European Parliament in the next mandate.

    Now The People gathered in Copenhagen last week, where roughly 15 parties, including Podemos, Die Linke, Sinn Fein, New Left (Greece), and the Swedish Left party, participated.

    “We have the far right that is making steady progress across the EU, we even see convergence between the liberals, the right wing and the far right. We see it in particular on environmental legislation, but also to push for racist and violent legislation such as the asylum and migration pact,” Aubry told Euractiv.
    She argued that there is the need for a new ‘leftist generation’ as an alternative to having “the far right, the right wing, the liberals and a divided left”.

    The MEP was referring to the recent behaviour of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), which has adopted a new approach in recent months towards environmental legislation.

    The EPP, together with the liberals and the socialists, was pushing for the endorsement of the migration pact, a group of five regulations that the EU is about to approve. They will define EU rules at borders, heavily criticised by civil society organisations who said they lacked human rights protection for migrants.

    “We need an alternative to what we have in front of us, which is the far right, the liberals and a divided left. We need to reunite the left, among very clear policies, to fight austerity, to fight free trade and to fight market based mechanisms and policies,” Aubry told Euractiv.

    https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/interview/far-right-conservatives-liberals-converging-before-eu-elections-leading-left-mep-says/

    1. “far right”

      That phrase has lost any and all meaning beyond “something / anything that globalist sc*m don’t like.”

      Give Ireland back to the Irish

      Give all of Europe back to the Europeans.

  16. “San Diego and Los Angeles, where the atmospheric river stalled out and dumped more than 10 inches of rain, were hit the hardest. Thousands of homeowners trying to repair the water damage are now in for a rude surprise when they discover that their standard-issue home insurance doesn’t cover floods.”
    …
    It sux being figuratively underwater on your mortgage and literally underwater with no flood insurance at the same time.

    1. Other than a total loss, the run of the mill flood is much worse numbers wise than a fire. People have no idea how much flood damage adds up.

  17. [I ran across this …]

    Just Askin’ Questions in Utah

    https://angrybearblog.com/2024/02/just-askin-questions-in-utah#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=just-askin-questions-in-utah

    In January, the governor of Utah signed the “Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act.” The law sets up a process for the state to overrule or otherwise ignore federal rules and decisions.

    For now, the law is just performative right-wing Republican bafflegab. While it appears to set up a challenge to the US Constitution’s “Supremacy Clause,” Governor Sandall denies this:

    “Our attorneys have indicated to me that the process that’s in place is constitutional,” he said. “It doesn’t have a constitutional (issue) simply because it’s a process. Any kind of resolution may or may not be deemed constitutional.”

    Of course, the Constitution only means what the SCOTUS says it means.

    It remains to be seen whether Utah has the testicularity to actually defy federal law. For now, they’re just askin’ questions.

  18. Condo Inventory EXPLODES Across SW Florida
    Ben Grieco
    17 hours ago

    Florida’s Condo Crisis continues to take shape as some owners are seeing their HOA fees double or even triple overnight. Insurance, replacement, and carrying costs have skyrocketed in a trend that could upend the states housing market.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkUjFYmTE9I

    14:23.

  20. Ukraine growing weaker ‘by the day’ – Musk

    20 Feb, 2024

    Elon Musk has reiterated his belief that Ukraine will lose its conflict with Russia, arguing that Kiev’s position in any future peace talks is weakening with each passing day of the hostilities.

    Commenting on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, the billionaire said panic is brewing among Ukraine’s backers in the US, where Republicans in the House of Representatives are blocking over $60 billion in fresh aid for Kiev.

    “For many, this is the last big payoff they will ever see. They will say anything to get it,” Musk claimed, responding to a conversation started by his former PayPal colleague, David Sacks.

    “It is time for a ceasefire and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has lost this war and nothing will change that,” responded the popular Wall Street Silver account, which comments on financial and general news. American aid, if provided, will not turn the tide of the conflict, it predicted.

    Musk agreed, replying that the only question is “how many die before that reality is accepted.”

    “A peace deal should have been done a year ago. Since then, thousands of boys have died for nothing and Ukraine’s position grower [sic] weaker by the day,” he added.

    https://www.rt.com/news/592720-musk-ukraine-peace-deal/

    2. It is time for a ceasefire and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has lost this war and nothing will change that,” responded the popular Wall Street Silver account, which comments on financial and general news. American aid, if provided, will not turn the tide of the conflict, it predicted.

      The empire just keeps losing wars. It was run out of Afghanistan by a bunch of goat herders with rifles. It can’t keep the Red Sea safe for shipping from another bunch of goat herders. And after throwing countless billions at a proxy another defeat is at hand. Meanwhile they just want to bomb bomb bomb; bomb bomb Iran, but will need a new proxy for a ground war with them as airplanes bringing home body bags every night isn’t good optics for the Narrative.

  21. A reader sent these in:

    Not a bubble

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1759585984394514724

    Screw you, @elerianm
    .
    https://twitter.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1682478641006116866

    Mortgage Rates have jumped to 7.36%, the highest level since December 1

    https://twitter.com/Barchart/status/1759800197008527782

    Jump in home sellers switching their listings to rentals.

    https://twitter.com/RickPalaciosJr/status/1607780084634746880

    2020: I’m too scared to list
    2021: why sell? Zestimate keeps going up
    2022: I will only accept early 2022 prices
    2023: I’ll just rent it out (sits vacant)
    2024: I will only accept mid 2021 prices
    2025: ok I will accept late 2020 prices

    https://twitter.com/NipseyHoussle/status/1608104621834215424

    “🇨🇦 Debt Dilemma”

    Surging Credit Card Balances Outpace Slowest Mortgage Growth in Decades 👇🏽

    https://twitter.com/ShaziGoalie/status/1759667047519162562

    The “Buffett indicator” – the ratio of the market value of the entire stock market to GDP, has historically averaged around 65%. The ratio peaked at 88.3 prior to the 1929 crash. At the peak of the http://dot.com bubble the ratio was 136.9%. Currently the ratio is 185%.

    https://twitter.com/ArcadiaEconomic/status/1759665340563247506

    Mortgage giant Arbor’s # of delinquent loans rose 30-fold from a year ago. Is Arbor just that bad…or is this a sign of major market failures on the way?

    https://twitter.com/PaulMooreInvest/status/1759694416946549224

    There were almost 5,000 evictions in Las Vegas in January, 150% higher than the pre-COVID average

    https://twitter.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1759731314272395763

    Anyone remember what happened to home prices the last time home sales volume collapsed?

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1759646585494118748

    Denny’s official slogan is “America’s diner is always open”…
    …except when it’s in Oakland where it’s permanently closed.
    Can you believe this Oakland Denny’s closed down less than 3 weeks ago? Just look at it now. Not sure what that guy’s doing up there on the roof this morning. Would you believe there was a live chicken running around the parking lot? Shengtown hits pretty hard these days.

    https://twitter.com/thomashawk/status/1759647747068862542

    The market cap concentration of the top 10% of stocks has hit its highest level since 1929, surpassing 2000

    https://twitter.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1759690741108945141

    With each book & research piece I read on the subject I’ve to come realize that most in the Boomer generation didn’t acquire their wealth through intelligence, innovation, and ingenuity but rather through looting it from the next 10 generations and dramatically lowering the quality of life for the much smaller generations to come.

    https://twitter.com/DonMiami3/status/1759649691002605803

    French automotive major Forvia to eliminate 10,000 jobs

    https://twitter.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1759609802114633803

    Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) to eliminate 3,700 jobs overseas due to weak demand, plummeting platinum prices

    https://twitter.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1759599198113067266

    Hundreds of rural hospitals are in danger of shutting down in 2024 and 2025 due to operating losses, almost half of rural hospitals are currently losing money

    https://twitter.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1759594016071405695

    Probably no one remembers this coz there is no one left having traded that era, but AFTER the dotcom bubble bursted in early 2000, market leadership thinned considerably. YET, the Mag5 of the era (Lucent, Cisco, Nokia, Ericsson and JDS) all outperformed into new highs by August 2000.

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1759689308489850990

    Not a bubble

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1759672929200050462

    The maths speaks for itself. 80% of Tech names trading above rising 200 sma. 93%, 66% and 57% of Utilities, Consumer Staples and Energy trading below falling 200 sma. Boat is so one-side tilted rn

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1759599776390062571

    Not a bubble

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1759585984394514724

    1. Can you believe this Oakland Denny’s closed down less than 3 weeks ago?

      That’s what a Doom Loop looks like.

      1. Wow! That was fast, seems like just a couple weeks ago I was watching a news segment on it while it was still open and the chickens were right outside the door but it still looked like a Dennys. It is starting to look like Ookland is going to collapse a lot faster than Detroit did. It is hard to fathom this level of incompetence especially when it is run by such progressive intelligentsia! I heard they are even still sending their kids next door to Bezerkeley to OD and die. They seem to be completely oblivious to what they’ve done. I suppose Dennys is not a failure but simply a fresh canvas full of potential, it’s so progressive!

        1. I heard they are even still sending their kids next door to Bezerkeley to OD and die.

          Taking the ticket comes at a high price. And the ex-youtube CEO, whose net worth is over $700M, and whose son died, isn’t done paying. I wonder how many more millionaires’ kids are going to die of a jab/OD combo? Of course, we all know that’s just a conspiracy theory and it was just “bad luck” that took the kid.

          2. There’s been quite a few high profile deaths of rich kids this year, more than I remember in the past.

        2. “It is starting to look like Ookland is going to collapse a lot faster than Detroit did.”

          Further south in Los Angeles they created Mello-Roos districts to increase law enforcement among other services, and many businesses advertise parking lot police to keep their customers from being accosted, robbed, etc. Looks like the SF Bay Area progressives aren’t going there.

  22. ‘Normal In America Is Broke And Stupid’ — Dave Ramsey Urges You To Figure Out What Everyone Else Is Doing And ‘Run In The Opposite Direction’ If You Want Financial Freedom

    https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/normal-america-broke-stupid-dave-160011054.html

    Renowned for his no-nonsense financial wisdom, Dave Ramsey delivered a potent wake-up call on his radio show. With his signature directness, Ramsey throws a spotlight on a harsh truth: “Normal in America is broke and stupid.” He’s not just talking at his audience; he’s talking to them, urging a radical shift away from the mainstream mishandling of money.

    During the segment posted on YouTube, Ramsey did not mince words about the prevailing financial culture: “Most people are broke. They spend more than they have coming in. They don’t act their wage.” He pointed out a troubling reality where many, despite appearances of affluence, are trapped in a cycle of debt and living paycheck to paycheck. The statistics he shares are alarming, with 70% of Americans caught in this cycle, and bankruptcy rates, foreclosures and credit card debt on the rise.

    Ramsey’s advice is clear and straightforward: “Figure out what most people are doing and run in the other direction.” He stresses the importance of diverging from the norm, where the norm equates to financial instability and stress. According to Ramsey, the path to financial health is paved with behaviors and decisions that are decidedly “weird” by societal standards.

    The crux of Ramsey’s argument lies in behavior modification. “Personal finances are 80-percent behavior. It’s only 20% head knowledge,” Ramsey asserts, challenging the common belief that financial success is rooted in complex knowledge or strategies. Instead, he argues for a return to basic principles of living within one’s means, avoiding debt and saving diligently.

    In a poignant critique of credit card reliance, Ramsey debunks the myth of rewards systems, pointing out the folly in believing that accumulating points or cashback can lead to wealth. “You get 1% back on your stupid Discover card. Have you ever discovered what the math is on that?” Ramsey asks rhetorically, highlighting the inefficacy of such rewards in contributing to one’s financial well-being.

    Ramsey’s personal journey from driving modest vehicles to having the freedom to purchase any car without concern for impressing others serves as a testament to his financial philosophy. This transformation, he explains, is not about flaunting wealth but about enjoying the fruits of disciplined financial planning and behavior.

    As the segment wraps up, Ramsey’s message is unambiguous: success in personal finance requires a radical departure from the norm. “Whatever you’re doing with money, I’m going to do the opposite thing,” he declares. By advocating for weirdness in financial habits, Ramsey offers a compelling counter-narrative to the prevalent “broke and stupid” norm in America, urging his listeners to embrace a contrarian approach to achieve financial independence.

    1. He pointed out a troubling reality where many, despite appearances of affluence, are trapped in a cycle of debt and living paycheck to paycheck.

      Pretty much everyone that I know or know of who drives a Tesla is broke as a joke.

    3. Ramsey asserts, challenging the common belief that financial success is rooted in complex knowledge or strategies. Instead, he argues for a return to basic principles of living within one’s means, avoiding debt and saving diligently.

      The broke always wonder how some of their friends always seem to have money. When I tell them: it’s because their friends are frugal, they refuse to believe it. “You drive a $60K car, Bob drives a beater that he paid off many years ago. You always eat out. For Bob eating out is a treat reserved for special occasions. That’s why Bob has 6 figures in savings and you don’t. It’s not because he’s a financial genius.”

      I saw a headline in my news feed (didn’t click on it) saying that Gen Z rejects Dave Ramsey’s advice as “unrealistic”

    4. As some one who is quite familiar with living frugally and within one’s means, this is much, much more difficult to do today without significant trade-offs and externalizing costs onto other people. Rent is expensive everywhere. Want cheap rent? Live with the illegals in cockroach housing in bad neighborhoods. You want a cheap car? Hope it’s not a lemon, and you’ll be throwing hundreds of dollars a month to fix all the things that go wrong with it (lookin’ at you, Mr. Chevy Equinox). You want cheap food? Hope you enjoy rice and beans every day. You want cheap utilities? With these blazing hot heat waves, you’ll be sweating up a storm with the AC on low; and in the cheap apartment with little insulation, yeah, good luck with that. Beyond these, you’re externalizing your costs if you live with family or friends, or if you bum rides from people to get around, or go to the food pantry. I have a frugal but very poor close relative on SSDI. Sure he gets $2,000 a month from the feds, but he gets $600 a month in food stamps, free health care medicaid, help with utilities every month, every other cost for him is waived or reduced by some government agency….

      1. Mr. Chevy Equinox

        It is possible to live without a car if you are in a village that has most things within a few blocks, like where I live. Even a small hospital. A clean apartment can be had for $800. There are daily bus routes to the surrounding cities (subsidized). $600 a month will get you a lot better than rice and beans if you can cook.

        I lived extremely cheaply on my boat in a previous decade.

  23. Driving to CED, QED, and Home Depot in central Denver, looking very third world today out here.

    Invaders are EVERYWHERE with the squeegees, whole families begging on corners.

    1. There was a sob story yesterday in the Post, pleading for “work permits” for the invaders no one wants to hire (since when have “work permits” ever been needed?). The same article claimed that there was a labor shortage in Dumver and that we really need these people. The Post claims they are skilled workers and can add so much to our economy, when the reality is that most of them are functionally illiterate.

    2. Invaders are EVERYWHERE with the squeegees, whole families begging on corners.

      I wonder if some of them have begun to realize that maybe they made a big mistake coming here? Though in some articles they interview them and they say “it’s been very rough (sleeping in tents, having no money, etc.), but we still want to stay”

  25. Pelosi Brings Back Debunked RussiaGate Hoax: ‘What Does Putin Have on Donald Trump?’

    by Jamie White
    February 20th 2024, 11:49 am

    Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tried to revive the debunked RussiaGate conspiracy theory on Monday, claiming without evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin is blackmailing former President Donald Trump.

    During her appearance on former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki’s MSNBC show Inside with Jen Psaki, Pelosi asked what kind of leverage Putin has on Trump to compel him to call on NATO countries to pay their fair share of funding for the alliance.

    After comparing Trump to Voldemort, the dark wizard villain of the Harry Potter franchise, Psaki then asked Pelosi what kind of blackmail Putin has on Trump.

    “I don’t know what [Putin] has on [Trump], but I think it’s probably financial,” Pelosi replied. “It is probably financial. It’s either something financial [Putin] has on [Trump] or something on the come, something that he expects to get.”

    Pelosi went on to decry Trump possibly becoming reelected in November.

    “We must be sure that he does not step one foot into the White House,” she said. “Not as president, not as anything. He has brought disgrace to the White House, to these presidents.”

    The media-driven RussiaGate hoax claiming Trump was a Russian agent or was somehow beholden to Putin has been debunked for years.

    As outlined by the Durham Report, RussiaGate turned out to be a conspiracy concocted by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, former CIA Director John Brennan and FBI leadership, and was unquestioningly perpetuated by the mainstream media.

    In fact, a recent report confirmed that not only was RussiaGate contrived by Clinton and Obama, but that Obama and Brennan had directed foreign intelligence agencies to spy on Trump officials long before they pushed the “Russia collusion” allegations in the summer of 2016.

    But Pelosi and Psaki won’t let these inconvenient facts that utterly devastate the entire RussiaGate narrative stop them from continuing to spout baseless claims about the Deep State hoax.

    Watch the full interview:

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/pelosi-brings-back-debunked-russiagate-hoax-what-does-putin-have-on-donald-trump

    1. Pelosi asked what kind of leverage Putin has on Trump to compel him to call on NATO countries to pay

      That is profoundly stupid.

      1. “They really are pulling out all the guns.”

        FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden’s ties to Ukrainian energy company

        BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST AND LISA MASCARO
        Updated 9:40 AM EST, February 16, 2024
        Share
        WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI informant has been charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company, a claim that is central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress.

        Alexander Smirnov falsely reported to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016, prosecutors said in an indictment. Smirnov told his handler that an executive claimed to have hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” according to court documents.

        Prosecutors say Smirnov in fact had only routine business dealings with the company in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after he “expressed bias” against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate.

        https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-burisma-fbi-informant-lying-6969656f6012780a23a4b8841ce2689b

  26. Interesting statistic to go along with that Fresno article.
    Median household income $57,211
    Median Home price $367,872 (+3% YOY.)
    More than 6X income to buy a home. Add the April 1st $20 per hour min wage fast food increase and I see many more jobs lost. I suppose all these “buyers” will be moving to Fresno from Palo Alto with all this $$$$??

    “A report from ABC 30 Fresno. “Chris Jurilla of US Bank says when interest rates do start to drop, more buyers, and more competition, will enter the housing market.”

    1. “More than 6X income to buy a home.” Just to clarify it said ‘household income’ and many of those households have 3 or more adults paying in. Some of the more diverse hoods have a whole gang of adults paying on it. Neighborhood covenants that discourage this sort of thing only apply to white people.

      1. I often wonder why families do this. Live packed like sardines in housing with 12 people paying the rent just to live in Crapifornia when there is relatively more affordable housing nearly everywhere else in the country outside of NYC.

  27. A look at Denver’s Doom Loop (from the Post)

    Hard lessons from the 16th Street Mall: Ana’s Norwegian Bakeri closes after just three months

    “We had really low sales that day. We hadn’t even made $100 yet, which was a very accurate picture of what the last couple of months looked like for us.”

    It wasn’t that many years ago when the 16th Street Mall was a nice place to hang out.

    1. Denver is a dump.

      Come drive around down here and see for yourself how bad it is, it’s even worse than you can imagine.

    1. Men beating up girls is celebrated by the Left in the name of inclusivity.

      Even more disturbing is that a sizeable portion of the population is either fine with this or willing to tolerate it.

      1. I know and have known many girls and young women who trained, worked and sacrificed to excel at their given sport to compete against their peers, with that being said and knowing how truly unfair it is, I believe the time has come for these young women, their coaches and parents to say…

        NO! We will not compete against biological males and boycott whatever game or meet where this hideous practice is allowed to take place.

  29. Watch: Tucker Claims Boris Johnson Demanded $1 Million For Interview Over Ukraine

    by Jamie White
    February 20th 2024, 5:13 pm

    “Boris Johnson calls me a tool of the Kremlin or something…So I put in a request for an interview with Boris Johnson,” Carlson said. “Finally one of his advisors gets back to me and says he will talk to you but it’s going to cost you a million dollars. He wants a million dollars, in gold or Bitcoin.”

    “This is, by the way, the guy who single-handedly, at the request of the US government, stopped the peace deal in Ukraine a year and a half ago. And is, I think, for that reason, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.”

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/watch-tucker-claims-boris-johnson-demanded-1-million-for-interview-over-ukraine

    1. Tucker should have paid the million, on the condition that he got a genuine iron clad paper receipt, with live ink signatures, audio, and video. It would be worth the million to show people around the world who is charging for “access.”

    2. BoJo is a stooge. He put the UK under a draconian lockdown, while he partied with unmasked colleagues at 10 Downing Street.

  30. Lea Desandre sings Handel: The Triumph of Time and Truth, HWV 71: “Guardian Angels, Oh, Protect me”
    Warner Classics
    1 year ago

    Thomas Dunford and his Jupiter ensemble join with singers Lea Desandre and Iestyn Davies in the ethereal program of Eternal Heaven, arias and duets handpicked from Handel’s English-language works.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1D3y_y4Kwo

    6 minutes.

  33. ChatGPT 3.5

    User
    What is the indication if Wall Street dumps stocks at the same time the consensus view shifts towards expecting steep rate cuts by the Fed in response to job market weakness?

    ChatGPT
    If Wall Street is dumping stocks while the consensus view shifts towards expecting steep rate cuts by the Fed in response to job market weakness, it could indicate a lack of confidence in the effectiveness of monetary policy to address broader economic concerns. This scenario suggests that investors may be interpreting the job market weakness as a sign of deeper economic issues that monetary policy alone may not be able to remedy, leading to increased selling pressure on stocks.

    User
    What normally happens to longterm Treasury yields when the stock market takes a dump?

    ChatGPT
    When the stock market experiences a significant downturn or “takes a dump,” investors often seek safer assets, such as long-term Treasury bonds, as a hedge against stock market volatility. As demand for these bonds increases, their prices rise, and consequently, their yields decrease. Therefore, in such circumstances, long-term Treasury yields typically decline as investors flock to these safer investments.

    User
    Is it possible the Fed will need to do less work to reduce interest rates if market adjustment processes take care of matters for them?

    ChatGPT
    Yes, it’s possible. If market adjustments, such as a significant downturn in the stock market, lead to decreased borrowing and spending by consumers and businesses, it could alleviate some of the pressure on the Federal Reserve to aggressively lower interest rates. In this scenario, the market’s natural mechanisms for adjusting economic conditions could complement the Fed’s efforts, potentially resulting in a less intensive monetary policy response from the central bank. However, the Fed would still likely monitor economic indicators closely and take appropriate action as needed to support overall economic stability and growth.

    ChatGPT 3.5
    User
    What is the indication if Wall Street dumps stocks at the same time the consensus view shifts towards expecting steep rate cuts by the Fed in response to job market weakness?
    ChatGPT

    If Wall Street is dumping stocks while the consensus view shifts towards expecting steep rate cuts by the Fed in response to job market weakness, it could indicate a lack of confidence in the effectiveness of monetary policy to address broader economic concerns. This scenario suggests that investors may be interpreting the job market weakness as a sign of deeper economic issues that monetary policy alone may not be able to remedy, leading to increased selling pressure on stocks.
    User
    What normally happens to longterm Treasury yields when the stock market takes a dump?
    ChatGPT

    When the stock market experiences a significant downturn or “takes a dump,” investors often seek safer assets, such as long-term Treasury bonds, as a hedge against stock market volatility. As demand for these bonds increases, their prices rise, and consequently, their yields decrease. Therefore, in such circumstances, long-term Treasury yields typically decline as investors flock to these safer investments.
    User
    Is it possible the Fed will need to do less work to reduce interest rates if market adjustment processes take care of matters for them?

    ChatGPT
    Yes, it’s possible. If market adjustments, such as a significant downturn in the stock market, lead to decreased borrowing and spending by consumers and businesses, it could alleviate some of the pressure on the Federal Reserve to aggressively lower interest rates. In this scenario, the market’s natural mechanisms for adjusting economic conditions could complement the Fed’s efforts, potentially resulting in a less intensive monetary policy response from the central bank. However, the Fed would still likely monitor economic indicators closely and take appropriate action as needed to support overall economic stability and growth.

    User
    Is it possible the Fed will need to do less work to reduce interest rates if market adjustment processes take care of matters for them?

    ChatGPT
    Yes, it’s possible. If market adjustments, such as decreased borrowing and spending due to economic uncertainty, effectively lower interest rates on their own, the Federal Reserve might need to implement fewer rate cuts to achieve its desired policy goals. In such cases, the market’s self-correcting mechanisms could mitigate the need for extensive intervention by the Fed, allowing for a more balanced approach to monetary policy.

    Is this conversation helpful so far?

    1. Economy
      Steep rate cuts are coming as the job market looks poised to weaken, Wells Fargo strategist says
      Jennifer Sor
      Feb 20, 2024, 12:09 PM ET
      Jerome Powell hearing
      Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

      – The Fed could slash rates more than expected in 2024, Wells Fargo strategist Erik Nelson said.

      – That’s because the job market is likely weaker than it looks on the surface.

      – Weakening job growth could be the negative catalyst that pushes the Fed to ease monetary policy.
      …
      https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-rate-cuts-outlook-recession-economy-job-market-unemployment-rate-2024-2?amp

    2. MT Newswires
      US Equity Indexes Decline With Treasury Yields in Midday Trading
      Feb 20, 2024 11:02 PST

      US equity indexes fell with government bond yields after midday on Tuesday.

      The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 4,964.6, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2% to 38,538.1 and the Nasdaq Composite 1.4% lower at 15,552.2. All sectors, except consumer staples and utilities, were in the red intraday.
      …
      https://www.tradingview.com/news/mtnewswires.com:20240220:A3082073:0-us-equity-indexes-decline-with-treasury-yields-in-midday-trading/

  34. DOW FUTURES -0.22%
    S&P 500 FUTURES -0.23%
    NASDAQ 100 FUTURES -0.39%

    Why the latest stock market bubble isn’t like others we’ve seen before
    Phil Rosen
    Feb 20, 2024, 11:32 AM PST
    Read in app
    stock market investor blowing a bubble, NYSE
    Drew Angerer / Getty

    – The latest stock market surge is different from bubbles of the past, Capital Economics said.

    – Markets are not reflecting any obvious signs of “high and rising leverage.”

    – The amount of margin debt relative to the size of the stock market is smaller than past bubbles.
    …
    https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-bubble-great-financial-crisis-investors-capital-economics-2024-2

  35. Yahoo Finance
    Benzinga
    ‘Normal In America Is Broke And Stupid’ — Dave Ramsey Urges You To Figure Out What Everyone Else Is Doing And ‘Run In The Opposite Direction’ If You Want Financial Freedom
    Jeannine Mancini
    Tue, Feb 20, 2024, 8:00 AM PST 3 min read

    Renowned for his no-nonsense financial wisdom, Dave Ramsey delivered a potent wake-up call on his radio show. With his signature directness, Ramsey throws a spotlight on a harsh truth: “Normal in America is broke and stupid.” He’s not just talking at his audience; he’s talking to them, urging a radical shift away from the mainstream mishandling of money.

    During the segment posted on YouTube, Ramsey did not mince words about the prevailing financial culture: “Most people are broke. They spend more than they have coming in. They don’t act their wage.” He pointed out a troubling reality where many, despite appearances of affluence, are trapped in a cycle of debt and living paycheck to paycheck. The statistics he shares are alarming, with 70% of Americans caught in this cycle, and bankruptcy rates, foreclosures and credit card debt on the rise.

    Ramsey’s advice is clear and straightforward: “Figure out what most people are doing and run in the other direction.” He stresses the importance of diverging from the norm, where the norm equates to financial instability and stress. According to Ramsey, the path to financial health is paved with behaviors and decisions that are decidedly “weird” by societal standards.

    The crux of Ramsey’s argument lies in behavior modification. “Personal finances are 80-percent behavior. It’s only 20% head knowledge,” Ramsey asserts, challenging the common belief that financial success is rooted in complex knowledge or strategies. Instead, he argues for a return to basic principles of living within one’s means, avoiding debt and saving diligently.

    In a poignant critique of credit card reliance, Ramsey debunks the myth of rewards systems, pointing out the folly in believing that accumulating points or cashback can lead to wealth. “You get 1% back on your stupid Discover card. Have you ever discovered what the math is on that?” Ramsey asks rhetorically, highlighting the inefficacy of such rewards in contributing to one’s financial well-being.
    …
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/normal-america-broke-stupid-dave-160011054.html

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