More Time And Space To Ponder The Best Buy Means Negotiating Tools Are Here To Stay

1. ‘William, whose last name is withheld by ABC13, has invested in several condos in the complex. But with the increased HOA fees yet lack of care on the property, he ‘regrets’ his investment decision. ‘We never knew that the HOAs would be increasing faster than inflation’

   Bill, you are a winnah!

   1. “…We never knew that the HOAs would be increasing faster than inflation…”

      Clearly, Bill is not a read of the HBB who, along with its readers, have repeatedly warned about the dangers of ever increasing holding costs for over a decade.

2. You will own nothing.

3. ‘No down payment requirement and no private mortgage insurance are examples of how VA loans can make homeownership even more affordable for military personnel, veterans and family members. Lenders also look at income when calculating your debt-to-income ratio (DTI)…Most lenders look for a DTI ratio of 36% or less, where no more than 36% of your gross monthly income goes towards debt payments. The VA doesn’t have a maximum DTI number’

   I remember when they did this. I think it was the Obammie years (Mel Watt again). You read that right – no limit at all. A coast guard dishwasher can buy a million peso shack in San Diego.

   And consider the market share last reported by the VA has grown 1000% since 2007. Sound lending!

4. ‘Moreno told his ‘fellow Venezuelans’ to squat in American homes and also showed off items he said he purchased with U.S. food stamps. Moreno also flaunted a Social Security card on his TikTok page, and said he’s made $1,000 a day as a panhandler. ‘I don’t like to work,’ Moreno said in one video. ‘Boys, in the U.S. there are a million tricks, a million things to do’

   This is what happens when you put a 20-something bartender in charge of illegal immigration.

   1. This is what people voted for

      1. *” . . . but have been spooked by the high maintenance cost — a hefty $8,568 a month.”

         Carlton the Doorman doesn’t come cheap

   2. This individual justifies vigilante action.

      Lots of corn fields in Ohio where he will never be found ☠️

      1. Actually I hope he brags and influences for another 8 months or so… as visibly as possible.

         1. The MSM will never cover it. As far as most leftists are concerned, immigration is orderly and under control. The Dumver post has pretty much dropped all the invader coverage, as have the local TeeVee stations. Nothing to see here, move along.

5. ‘In Sarasota County, the monthly supply of condo and townhome inventory moved from 2.8 months to 6.7 months, more than doubling, while active listings saw a 128 percent increase, rising from 929 listings in February 2023 to 2,119 listings in February 2024. Similarly, Manatee County condo and townhomes inventory moved from 3.4 months of supply to 6.2 months of supply, an 82 percent increase’

   It’s really coming unwound in Florida. Wa happened to my shortage?

   1. Florida is finished

      1. You think so huh? Massive amounts of mega wealth moved here. In some neighborhoods, cash accounted for more than 80% of all sales.
         They are still moving here, just not in droves. The builders are always laggards, permitting, etc., and even more condos are coming online, mostly high end and luxury $1M+ and still being sold.

         1. While Florida may have a lot of issues, it also has a lot going for it. Where else can you live in a Porsche, Bentley, or Aston Martin condo? The Bentley is still taking reservations and is my favorite of the three but I may go with the Aston Martin building so that I have enough space to park my new Lamborghini 63 Yacht outside. They don’t have yacht elevators yet but hopefully soon. For now we have to make due with only having car elevators so we can keep our super cars safe in our living rooms while we gaze out at incoming hurricanes. If the tidal surge gets too bad we’ll just hop in the 63 and cruise up the coast. It could be worse. The Porsche building is worth a look if you want to see how to park a car in your 12th floor apartment.

   2. Reading that almost makes one wish you wanted to live in Florida.

      1. We love living in Florida.

         1. We love living in Florida.

            I loved living in Florida too but I don’t think it is, in anyway, a smart move to buy a condo/townhouse until the dust settles in 2025. Article yesterday about Taylor Swift having issues selling her multi-million dollar house in NYC because of $8K+ maintenance fees. FWIW a friend of mine, in 2008, sold her Park Ave. co-op for $3+ Million largely because , cash flow wise, she couldn’t afford the $5.5K maintenance fee.
            Cash flow really does matter.

6. “People are just being smarter with their money.’”

   So is what realtor Paula is saying is that all who bought during the last three years weren’t that smart with their money? If you listen closely these clowns hang themselves.

   1. “Buyers are being more picky . . blah blah blah . . . ” says Paula Jones, a realtor with Keller Williams Realty Select.

      Here we go AGAIN with the “Picky Buyers” insults as real estate sales slow down.
      I picture Paula Jones as a nasally, annoying Fran Dresher type endlessly kvetching in her grating NY accent!
      (Sorry to insult yer cousin, Ben.)

      Peacocking Payments must be overdue.

7. “Zero Critical Reasoning”: Employers Say GenZ “Toxic” For Companies

   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/zero-critical-reasoning-employers-say-genz-toxic-companies

   A new report has found that 68% of small business owners say Gen Z employees are the “least reliable,” while 71% say they’re most likely to have a mental health issue in the workplace.

   One of the employers surveyed spoke of Gen Z’s “absolute delusion, complete lack of common sense, and zero critical reasoning or basic analytical skills,” according to the Freedom Economy Index report conducted by PublicSquare and RedBalloon this month.

   Less than 4% of those surveyed said Gen Z was the generation that most aligns with their workplace culture, while 62% said Gen Z’s were most likely to create division and toxicity in the workplace.

   Another employer surveyed said the generation is “expecting promotions for simply showing up every day.”

   Exhibit A:

   [A short (and amusing) video appears here …]

   What’s more, 57% of those surveyed said that Gen Z runs the most risk of creating a workplace lawsuit.

   Newsweek has come out in defense of Gen Z, citing two experts who say the kids are just misunderstood.

   Dan Space, an HR consultant who runs DanFromHR.com, said since the study reflects the feelings of small business owners, it could be skewed. These types of businesses often do not pay well or offer a high-quality company culture, he said, and Gen Z tends to look for those in any type of role or career they take on, he said.

   “Gen Z is one of the most informed, confident and no BS generation because they saw what happened to the millennials before them,” Space told Newsweek.

   “Being told to go to college to get a great job, graduating with up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, with zero tools to get a job, land somewhere and not be given the information on salaries, career development, moving towards compensation models that use mixed variations….So I find they are just far more comfortable with not putting up with this BS and being informed,” Space continued.

   Space conceded that Gen Zers are most likely to have mental health issues, ‘but he does believe they are more likely to be confident in discussing it and drawing boundaries,’ Newsweek reports.

   Ok Dan.

   1. “absolute delusion, complete lack of common sense, and zero critical reasoning or basic analytical skills”

      Spending ten hours a day on TikTok for your entire adolescence, that builds work ethic, for sure.

      1. Bingo! Social media has contributed hugely to delusional generations of late.

      2. That’s painting with a pretty broad brush. I could just as easily say that people in the WWII generation spend 10 hours a day sitting in a recliner watching CNN. And I’d be at least as close to the truth.

         1. But what did they do when they were young?

            1. Watched whatever was on TV back then, I guess. Walter Cronkite, George Burns, …?

   2. Here’s a link to more about the survey, with a few charts.

      Guess which generation of employees wins, with the moste reliability and least toxicity? That’s right. Gen X.

      (people get less reliable as they age, so I can see why the boomers weren’t seen as the best.)

      1. https://www.publicsquare.com/blog/psq-updates/march-fei-results

      2. Boomers are in their 70’s and are mostly retired. Even the older members of GenX are approaching retirement.

8. ‘We never knew that the HOAs would be increasing faster than inflation,’

   Does this always happen towards the end of a boom?

9. Does it really matter if the Fed runs losses on its balance sheet? Who is harmed and how if they do?

   1. Yahoo Finance
      Moneywise
      Federal Reserve posts largest operating loss on record — what the bank’s shrinking balance sheet really means
      Serah Louis
      Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 3:40 AM PDT
      3 min read

      In 2023, the Federal Reserve spent $114.3 billion more than it brought in — its largest operating loss on record.

      Compared to 2022 when the central bank brought in a net income of $58.8 billion, that’s a major drop. That was the year the Fed started raising its key rate to account for inflation. But that appears to have had some mixed results for the institution’s books.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/federal-posts-largest-operating-loss-104000688.html

10. Baltimore’s mayor!

    “The fact that I don’t believe in their untruthful and wrong ideology and I am very proud of my heritage and who I am and where I come from scares them, because me being at my position means that their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers is going to be at risk and they should be afraid because that’s my purpose in life,” said Scott.

    And there you have it, in his own words.

    Scott’s “purpose in life” is to make white people uncomfortable and afraid.

    1. We are turning into South Africa, where they can’t even keep the lights on anymore.

    2. Scott’s “purpose in life” is to make white people uncomfortable and afraid.

       He, and most other big city Mayors, keep forgetting that Wypypo are the ones who pay the bills. But I suppose that if he can chase the ones left out then having the city collapse onto itself is a price worth paying.

       1. And wypypo created everything they use to make their lives modern and western.

          1. And when everything does collapse they will demand that the wypypo comeback and fix everything, while they remain in charge, of course.

             Anyway, I’m sure it will be wypyo who will remove the debris of the collapsed bridge so the port can reopen ASAP.

             1. Snippet from a Fox news update: “The Army Corps of Engineers says… … it will provide underwater assessment capabilities, structural engineering support – including “certified bridge safety inspectors and urban search and rescue structural technical specialists” ”

                I’m not certified, but I’ve inspected the bridge and I think it’s not safe.

             2. For what it’s worth, I read that most of the construction workers who perished on the bridge were from south of the border. I’m assuming similar replacements will be doing the rebuild as well. The new Ooga Booga Bridge is going to be a modern marvel of DIE.

             3. IIRC the “migrants” working on the bridge were doing pot hole repair.

       2. Baltimore, the new Detroit.

          1. Baltimore, the new Detroit.

             My stepson goes to Baltimore for work occasionally and he says half the town is clean, safe and very nice. The other half is a cluster and he hates being in that part of town.

    3. He speaks for many in his tribe.

    4. “Scott’s “purpose in life” is to make white people uncomfortable and afraid.”

       I am very comfortable and I am not afraid.

       “Be strong, be of good courage, God bless America, long live the republic”

11. Business
    Fear & Greed Index
    Business / Economy
    There’s more bad news for potential homebuyers: Prices just hit another record
    By Alicia Wallace, CNN
    3 minute read
    Updated 11:46 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    US home prices continue to top the all-time highs set last year.
    Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

    CNN —

    US home prices rose at the fastest clip in months to a fresh record high in January, according to data released Tuesday, highlighting how a housing shortage combined with high mortgage rates continues to limit affordability.

    The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price index rose 6% in January from a year before, accelerating from a 5.6% annual increase in December. It’s the highest annual increase since late 2022.

    “For the second consecutive month, all cities reported increases in annual prices, with San Diego surging 11.2%,” wrote Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.

    “On a seasonal adjusted basis, home prices have continued to break through previous all-time highs set last year,” he noted.

    Housing prices have shot to new heights amid a confluence of factors; specifically, decades of underbuilding has led to a shortage of millions of homes. In recent years, efforts to boost that inventory were stymied by rising costs as well as sharply rising interest rates.

    The Federal Reserve’s series of rate hikes meant to curb demand and slow inflation resulted in average mortgage interest rates surging to nearly 8% last year. The higher rates stifled demand and kept homesellers on the sidelines, limiting supply further.

    The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending March 21, according to Freddie Mac data.

    It’s more affordable to rent than to buy

    Mortgage rates are expected to drop further this year — especially if the Fed starts cutting rates as planned — however, they might not fall by much: Economists at PNC Financial Services group expect them to be in the 6.5% realm by the fourth quarter.

    “That means housing affordability will still be low this year,” Ershang Liang, economist at PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN.

    In fact, a separate report released Tuesday showed that it’s actually more affordable to rent than to buy in America’s biggest cities.

    Realtor.com’s Rental Report for February found that monthly rent was cheaper than shelling out for a mortgage payment in the 50 largest US cities.

    In February, the cost of buying a starter home in those cities was $1,027 more than renting one. That’s up from a difference of $865 in February 2023.

    Austin, Texas; Seattle; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Los Angeles were the top five metros with the largest rent versus buy savings, according to the Realtor.com report.
    …
    https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/economy/us-home-prices-january-case-shiller/index.html

12. This concept of “Treaty Agreements” by Global Governments with corrupted , unelected, world Organizations like the UN and the World Health Organization is a ploy to.form a One World Dictorship.
    The Treaty agreements violate the 14 th amendment that no laws shall be made that violate the Constitution, or protections laid out.
    Treaties that supersede Constitutions , take away Respresentive governments , and put power into one man Dr Tedros to dictate World health policy is
    the plan.
    The WHO is infiltrated by the CCP, its in collusion with the WEF, and the WHO get massive donations from Bill Gates, and the WHO head isn’t even a Dr, but is a known Communist terrorist in his history.
    In a covert way, Joe Biden is by executive order transferring by Treaty power to WHO to literally override the US government.
    John Biden said that the “US should lead in the One World Order”
    Joe Biden is going to save Democracy by invasion of our borders and unconstitutional transfer of power by Treaty to WHO unlimited power to dictate global health policy.
    The Amended WHO ” health policy” Treaty includes dictates involving Climate Change, Pandemics, equity, racism, anything they now deem health policy. They get power of Marshall law, lock downs , masks, forced mandated vaccines, and counter measures to Climate Change and what they deem sustainable. Even language where they can censor free speech in the interest of controlling disinformation or hate speech.
    Unbelievable.

13. Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years in prison for fraud and money-laundering at FTX

    https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/28/sam-bankman-fried-gets-25-years-in-prison-for-fraud-and-money-laundering-at-ftx/

    1. Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Jail for Fraud

       SEAN MORAN
       28 Mar 2024

       Indeed, during the height of his influence, Bankman-Fried sought to outpace Democrat megadonor George Soros as the largest donor to the party. He reportedly spent $100 million in stolen customer funds to donate mostly to Democrats and was the second largest donor to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. (Only former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave more.) One Puck News report found that Bankman-Fried sought advisers and conducted data experiments to help Democrats during the 2024 elections.

       Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried, helped craft the strategic memo that guided the Democrats’ 2020 election strategy as the leader of the Democrat super PAC Mind the Gap. Fried, a Stanford University professor, argued that Democrats should move to get non-partisan Americans registered to vote as it is “four to ten times more cost-effective” at “netting additional Democratic votes.”

       comments

       Junior Mint Novel Concepts an hour ago

       Fani said: “too bad he didn’t come through my court. I’d tap that thang with my chocolate vice thighs.”

       https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2024/03/28/sam-bankman-fried-sentenced-to-25-years-in-jail-for-fraud/

       1. Every once in a while someone has to be thrown under the bus. He drew the short straw.

          1. We had posters saying he’d never serve a day. Eat yer crowz!

14. In addition, the Main Stream news doesn’t think the WHO Treaty isn’t worth reporting on , while they plan to finalize the WHO Treaty agreement in late May of 2024.
    They has been no Approval by Congress or the Senate on this transfer of Power by Treaty to WHO, that would put unlimited powers in the hands of WHO, in this outrageous power grab.
    How do the people stop this treason by the Puppet Biden , who got in by a rigged election , to advance a One World dictorship.

    1. They has been no Approval by Congress or the Senate

       Then there is no treaty. Not that the regime would ignore WHO dictates. They pretty much did as the WHO said last time. But will only do it when convenient for them.

    2. Also, regarding treaties: the US crafts them to serve its interests. Witness the current free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. The US is using that treaty to beat Mexico over the head to go Green, which AMLO has resisted so far. However, his successor who will be elected in July, Claudia Sheinbaum (yes, Mexico is going to elect a member of the tribe as its president) has already committed to going Green. Sheinbaum is a globalist and is promising a lot of free cheese to Mexicans. She has no plan to deal with the cartels, so that will be business as usual.

       1. So of course she will be very welcoming to all the newcomers flying into Mexico City or coming up from Honduras, right? Give them some queso, a place to live, and a lonely señorita, right? No? She’s going to just wave them through? Such a nice globalist.

          1. Mexico doesn’t want them. I expect Sheinbaum will continue granting them passage, with the understanding that they are not supposed to stay in Mexico.

15. Are stock traders correct in their gleeful anticipation of lower future rates in the near future?

    1. HOMEPAGE
       Economy
       The Fed’s rate-cut projections are pointing to an imminent recession, economist says
       Yuheng Zhan
       Mar 28, 2024, 10:10 AM ET
       Recession outlook
       Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images

       – The Fed’s interest rate forecasts signal an imminent recession, economist David Rosenberg says.

       – In previous soft landings, the Fed usually cut rates by 75 basis points, but they’re forecasting a 150 basis-point reduction by 2025.

       – Stock investors are eagerly awaiting the central bank’s pivot to looser monetary policy.

       The Federal Reserve’s interest rate forecasts are flashing warning signs of a recession just around the corner, top economist David Rosenberg says.

       “The Fed doesn’t want to say this explicitly, but it is actually saying (in not so many words) that a recession is very likely coming our way,” Rosenberg said in a note on Thursday.

       Despite the Fed’s optimistic forecast of 2.1% GDP growth and a 4% unemployment rate, Rosenberg sees officials’ prediction of a sharp drop in the median federal funds rate as a recession indicator.

       The Fed anticipates the median federal funds rate will drop by 150 basis points to 3.875% by 2025 and by 225 basis points to 3.125% by the end of 2026.

       Rosenberg said in past instances of a soft landing in the economy, the Fed typically reduces rates by 75 basis points, as seen in 1987, 1995, 1998, and 2019. The only exception was September 1984 to August 1986 when rates saw deeper cuts following a 60% collapse in oil prices.

       “Outside of that episode, any move down in the funds rate during the post-WWII era anywhere close to -150 basis points (the forecast by the end of 2025) only occurred because of one thing…” he wrote.

       As the Fed has shifted focus to combating recession, stock investors are eagerly anticipating a series of rate cuts starting this year.

       “I say be careful what you wish for. In recessions, interest rates, bond yields and equity prices all go down in tandem,” he said.
       …

       1. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/feds-rate-cut-projections-pointing-221015938.html

16. ‘I’m telling buyers who can afford it to look now while they have more breathing room and less competition. They have a good chance of negotiating the price down or getting some concessions from the seller.

    That’s the spirit Brynn!

17. ‘A San Francisco mansion once owned by Nicholas Cage was sold last week for $3.3 million…the mansion was listed as high as $12 million back in June 2018’

    That’s a climb down.

    1. Yahoo Finance
       Moneywise
       ‘I couldn’t get out in time’: Nicolas Cage recalls being $6M in debt after the real estate market crashed and making ‘crummy’ movies to pay it off — here are some of his craziest buys
       Bethan Moorcraft
       Sun, Jun 18, 2023
       5 min read

       Nicolas Cage is known for his eccentricity and intensity on and off camera. He recently made headlines for his cameo in a June blockbuster, and for his upcoming appearance as himself in the popular video game “Dead by Daylight.” While the series has featured horror icons such as Freddy Krueger, Cage is the first real-life celebrity on the roster.

       As Cage says in the teaser trailer, “There’s nothing more powerful than imagination.” This holds especially true for the actor, who was once a top earner in Hollywood, reportedly worth $150 million at one point.

       In a recent interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Cage reflected on how he fell $6 million in debt after blowing much of his career earnings on real estate prior to the market crashing.

       To get out of that “dark period” and pay the IRS and his creditors everything he owed, Cage moved to tax-friendly Las Vegas, Nevada and made multiple movies a year.

       “Work was always my guardian angel. It may not have been blue-chip, but it was still work. Even if the movie ultimately is crummy … I’m not phoning it in. I care, every time.”

       Ultimately, the Oscar winner’s efforts paid off and he settled his debts without having to file for bankruptcy — but the 59-year-old came dangerously close. Here are some of his craziest buys.

       Mansions and a haunted house

       Cage has picked up a slew of residential real estate during his prolific acting career — but he lost nearly all of his properties during the previous housing market crisis when his financial mismanagement and tax debts ballooned amid the financial crisis.

       “I was over-invested in real estate,” he said. “The real estate market crashed and I couldn’t get out in time.”

       Cage once owned 15 residences, according to CNBC, including a $25-million waterfront home in Newport Beach, California, a $15.7 million countryside estate in Newport, Rhode Island, and a $8.5 million abode in Las Vegas.

       He also apparently bought two castles in Europe for $10 million and $2.3 million, respectively. To top things off, there was also a $3.4 million purchase of the infamous LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans. The mansion is known as one of the most haunted houses in America and was the setting for the TV show “American Horror Story: Coven.”

       As Cage told the New York Daily News back in 2009, “You know, other people have beachfront property; I have ghost front property…”
       …
       https://finance.yahoo.com/news/couldnt-time-nicolas-cage-remembers-103000349.html

18. ‘The Houston man pays over $6,000 a year ($550 a month) in HOA fees for his two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo, as he told local news station ABC13. But walking the news crew through his complex, he wondered what value he’s getting from his monthly dues, as he pointed out shattered glass, holes in the fence, a broken mailroom door and dogs running loose, relieving themselves freely. ‘Fecal matter everywhere’

    It sounds like yer fees are going up worser John.

19. ‘Center City’s newest apartment tower at 210 South 12th St. is set to begin leasing later this spring, adding 376 high end units to the market. Philadelphia has seen a building boom in recent years, and many prominent developers believe there may be a multifamily housing glut — meaning there are more new units than there is demand for them at the prices being charged’

    This rolling dumpster fire has been going on for at least 8 years and they are still spending the free money on more airboxes.

20. ‘We view these repurchases as tantamount to a default because the lenders received less value than they were promised under the initial terms of the securities

    That’s why you make the big bucks S&P.

21. ‘“The fall in prices is due to a significant decline in housing market transactions across all segments…‘Furnished room rental is therefore an almost exclusively urban phenomenon,’ the report said. Some 60% of furnished room rental advertisements in 2023 were in Luxembourg City, while the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette accounted for 35% of the supply’

    Short term rentals blow up the market – again.

22. ‘A Pearl Beach getaway that set a $7.7 million auction record when 10 parties competed in 2021 has resold at $6.6 million. The Central Coast headland cottage was sold by Louise Fussell and her husband Thomas’

    A mighty a$$pounding Tom and Loise. Well done!

    1. Louise Fussell

       Googled her. She sounds like some hot shot Brit attorney.

23. Buyers Are Using Every Last Penny To Purchase (York Region Real Estate Market Update)
    Team Sessa Real Estate
    28 minutes ago VAUGHAN

    In this episode we take a look at the current Vaughan Home Prices, Richmond Hill Home Prices & Markham Home Prices and real estate market trends for week ending Mar 20, 2024. We also discuss the consequences when buyers use every last penny to purchase a home and are not able to enjoy what they’ve purchased.

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

    14:14.

24. Starbucks, Chipotle, McDonald’s: Who’s raising prices in California to pay higher wages

    BY KAREN GARCIASTAFF WRITER
    MARCH 28, 2024 1:57 PM PT

    Your next burrito bowl might cost you more than $12 thanks to a California law that’s significantly increasing fast-food workers’ wages next month, a cost increase that big chains like Chipotle say they could pass along to consumers.

    During an earnings call in February, Chipotle’s chief financial and administrative officer Jack Hartung warned, “To cover the cost of the wage increase, we would need to take a mid-single-digit price increase in California.”

    The law, Assembly Bill 1228, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September and takes effect Monday. It requires restaurants — corporate- and franchise-owned — with 60 establishments nationwide to bump their California-based workers’ pay to $20 an hour, $4 higher than the overall state minimum wage of $16 an hour.

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-28/fast-food-workers-minimum-wage-is-going-up-which-chains-will-up-their-prices

    California food chains laying off workers ahead of new minimum wage law

    March 25, 2024 5:08pm EDT

    Several eateries, particularly pizza chains, have begun to cut jobs, in an effort to get ahead of the possible financial repercussions, The Wall Street Journal reported.

    Michael Ojeda, 29, a Pizza Hut driver in Ontario, Calif., told the newspaper that he received a notice from Pizza Hut franchisee Southern California Pizza in December informing him that his last day of work would be in February.

    “Pizza Hut was my career for nearly a decade and with little to no notice it was taken away,” said Ojeda.

    https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-food-drink/california-food-chains-laying-off-workers-ahead-new-minimum-wage-law

    1. “California food chains laying off workers ahead of new minimum wage law”

       Hmmm…I thought economists had determined there was no link between the minimum wage and unemployment.

       1. https://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/njmin-aer.pdf

       2. No, Krueger Didn’t ‘Prov[e] that Raising the Minimum Wage Doesn’t Increase Unemployment’
          By Thomas Firey, Apr 23 2019

          News of Princeton economist Alan Krueger’s recent death prompted well-deserved tributes and reflections on him and his academic and public policy work. (David Henderson offers some kind words here.) The eulogies underscore Krueger’s sharp and inquisitive mind as well as his reputation for integrity, careful scholarship, and concern for his fellow man.

          However, some of the tributes go a bit too far when they claim that among his accomplishments was “proving that raising the minimum wage doesn’t increase unemployment,” to borrow from Bill Clinton. Barack Obama wrote something similar in a lengthy tribute. (In 1994–1995 Krueger was chief economist at the Labor Department under Clinton; in 2009–2010 he was assistant treasury secretary for economic policy under Obama and in 2011–2013 headed Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.)

          Krueger’s best-known work on the minimum wage, co-written with Berkeley economist David Card (another excellent scholar), was this 1994 American Economic Review article. In it, they employed a clever solution to the standard problem with empirical studies of the effects of a policy change: how to determine what would have happened in the counterfactual world where the policy didn’t change?
          …
          https://www.econlib.org/no-krueger-didnt-prove-that-raising-the-minimum-wage-doesnt-increase-unemployment/

       3. Michael Ojeda disagrees with the economists.

          1. So do other economists.

    2. Pizza Hut delivery is considered a career? Wow!

       1. 1099 employee; your car and your insurance.

25. The Epoch Times
    @EpochTimes

    Supreme Court Rejects Nick Sandmann’s Defamation Case Against Media Outlets

    The former Covington Catholic High School student noted the decision on social media but did not comment on it.

    Mar 27, 2024

    https://x.com/EpochTimes/status/1773010841815707681?s=20

26. Watch out whom you choose to date!

    1. Crypto World
       How Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and early recruit helped put the FTX founder behind bars for 25 years
       Published Thu, Mar 28 2024 2:39 PM EDT
       Updated 5 Hours Ago
       MacKenzie Sigalos

       KEY POINTS

       – Caroline Ellison was the prosecution’s star witness in its case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced on Thursday to 25 years in prison.

       – Ellison, who ran FTX’s sister hedge fund Alameda Research, pleaded guilty in December 2022 and has yet to face sentencing.

       – Ellison was one of Bankman-Fried’s earliest recruits when he entered the crypto market.
       …
       https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/03/28/caroline-ellison-sbf-ex-girlfriend-helped-put-ftx-founder-in-prison.html

27. Benzinga
    ‘The Middle Class Is Dead’: Social Media Users Claim $174K Per Year Is Not Doing Well — It’s Just The Bare Minimum Needed To Survive
    Jeannine Mancini
    Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 12:00 PM PDT
    4 min read

    An Instagram reel by a man named Jim Garfield has racked up over 450,000 likes and offers an eye-opening look at how much the definition of the middle class has changed from 1983 to 2024.

    In the video, Garfield compares salaries, saying, “Making $30,000 a year in 1983 is equivalent to making $164,000 a year in 2023-2024. The middle class isn’t dying. The middle class is dead.”
    …
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-fourth-quarter-growth-revised-125044179.html

28. Is it safe to assume that China’s property woes are finally over?

    1. Troubled Chinese property giant Country Garden misses results
       By Laura He, CNN
       2 minute read
       Published 10:25 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
       Aerial photo shows a Country Garden community in the city of Zhenjiang, in China’s Jiangsu province, March 14, 2024.
       CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images

       Hong Kong CNN —

       Troubled housing giant Country Garden announced late Thursday that it would delay the publication of its annual results, in the latest sign of the turmoil still coursing through China’s huge property sector.

       In a filing provided to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the company said it needed more time to collect information due to the complexity of the work required amid its debt restructuring.

       The move is likely to cause its share trading to be suspended from Tuesday, as is required by Hong Kong’s listing rules.

       Hong Kong’s market was closed on Friday for the Easter holiday and will reopen on Tuesday.

       Country Garden, once the China’s largest property developer, is reeling under about $194 billion worth of debt. It defaulted on its US dollar debt last year.

       Last month, it received a liquidation petition in Hong Kong from a creditor for non-payment of a loan worth 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars ($204 million), according to the company.

       Country Garden’s woes echo that of another huge, and now insolvent, Chinese property giant Evergrande.

       It was a set of missed results from Evergrande back in 2021 and 2022 that first alerted investors to huge debts and stresses within China’s property sector, a moment that cascaded through multiple parts of the world’s second largest economy and continues to reverberate to this day.
       …
       https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/country-garden-delays-annual-result-intl-hnk/index.html

    2. Financial Times
       Chinese economy
       China’s Vanke vows to cut debt by $14bn as property woes mount
       Nationwide slowdown hit sales and profits halved last year
       Vanke’s struggles highlight the impact of a cash crunch on construction and the wider economy
       Thomas Hale in Hefei 2 hours ago

       Vanke, one of China’s leading property developers, said it would cut its debt by $14bn after a nationwide slowdown in the sector hit its sales and saw its profits fall by almost half in 2023.

       The company’s net income fell 46 per cent to Rmb12.2bn ($1.69bn) last year, the state-linked company said in an exchange filing late on Thursday. In February, its sales dropped by 53 per cent year-on-year to Rmb14bn.

       Separately late on Thursday, fellow developer Country Garden, which defaulted on its international debts in October, said it would delay the release of its annual results for 2023 beyond a deadline of March 31 and expects its shares to be suspended when trading resumes after Easter. It is not clear when the results will be released.

       The struggles of both companies, once seen as among the most trusted real estate developers in China, highlights the impact of a two-and-a-half-year cash crunch that has weighed on construction and the wider economy.

       Yu Liang, Vanke’s board chair, told a press conference on Friday morning that the real estate market is “oversold” in the short term and that the industry’s prospects are still “broad”, according to local media reports.

       Vanke’s commitment to cut debt by Rmb100bn over the next two years aligns with a long-standing push from Beijing to deleverage the real estate sector. In 2021, its so-called “three red lines policy”, which set leverage guidelines for developers, added to funding pressures that ultimately toppled Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer.

       The failure of the company, which is now the subject of a liquidation order in Hong Kong, led to a wave of other defaults by Chinese developers, particularly on their international debts which had accrued as part of a decade-long borrowing binge. Evergrande failed to reach any restructuring agreement with international creditors.

       Country Garden in February said a winding up petition had been brought against it in Hong Kong for failing to repay a $205mn loan.

       Vanke, which is partly owned by the state-owned metro in the city of Shenzhen, became the focal point of the sector’s troubles in March after rating agency Moody’s, which estimated a severe decline in its sales in January and February, removed its investment grade rating. It was later downgraded by Fitch.
       …

29. Has the Fed ditched its 2% inflation target?

    1. Mohamed El-Erian: We may have just seen a central bank shift that will go down in history

       Last week may mark a move away from strict inflation targeting by the world’s most influential central banks
       By Mohamed El-Erian
       Published Mar 27, 2024 • Last Updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
       The United States Federal Reserve last week signalled a willingness to tolerate higher inflation for longer and an openness to slow the ongoing reduction in its balance sheet.
       Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

       It would not surprise me if future economic history books were to look back at the last week in central banking as marking a move away from strict inflation targeting by the world’s most influential central banks.

       While far from being definite or risk free, it is a shift that would be consistent with superior economic outcomes and stands a reasonable chance of working. And it is a policy approach that is likely to be superior to others as central banks tackle an operating environment that is particularly fluid economically and politically at domestic and global levels.

       It is not often that you see a reputable central bank revise up its inflation and growth projections and yet strengthen a dovish tilt to its policy stance. Yet that is what happened in Washington last week when the United States Federal Reserve raised those projections up a notch and yet delivered two consequential signals: a willingness to tolerate higher inflation for longer and an openness to slow the ongoing reduction in its balance sheet.

       Reacting to these unexpected signals of monetary policy patience, markets pushed stocks and gold significantly higher to record levels. Moreover, bond prices rose as traders became more confident that the Fed might cut interest rates as early as June despite hotter-than-expected inflation reports for January and February.

       Fed chair Jay Powell justified the central bank’s stance by saying the inflation story was “essentially the same” despite this data and the upward revision in its own inflation projections.

       Fed not the only dove

       But the Fed was not the only central bank that markets deemed surprisingly dovish. Two days before the Fed, the Bank of Japan wrapped its first interest rate increase in 17 years in dovish packaging. Despite the Bank of Japan also announcing an exit from its policy of capping bond yields, the yen weakened against the dollar rather than appreciated on the news that Japan was the last central bank to move nominal interest rates into positive territory.

       Japan’s hotter-than-expected inflation made its “dovish hike” even more notable, pushing the currency close to a 32-year low. The dovish central bank surprises did not stop there. A day after the Fed meeting, the Swiss National Bank unexpectedly cut its interest rates, knocking about one per cent off the value of its currency.

       Now, each of these moves could be explained by country-specific factors. Undoubtedly, and using a clever distinction I heard years ago from my former Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC colleague Andrew Balls, last week’s central bank outcomes were correlated rather than co-ordinated.
       …
       https://financialpost.com/investing/entral-bank-shift-could-go-down-in-history/

    2. Bonds
       2-year Treasury yield rises as investors mull interest rate outlook
       Published Thu, Mar 28 2024 5:29 AM EDT
       Updated Thu, Mar 28 2024 3:04 PM EDT
       Lisa Kailai Han
       Sophie Kiderlin

       KEY POINTS

       – Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Wednesday said there was “no rush” to cut interest rates, adding that recent economic data indicated that rates may need to stay elevated for longer.

       – On Thursday, the latest weekly jobless claims for the week that ended March 16 came in at 210,000, slightly lower than the 211,000 that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted.

       – Fresh inflation data is expected to be released Friday in the form of the personal consumption expenditures price index.
       …
       https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/03/28/us-treasury-yields-as-investors-mull-interest-rate-outlook.html

    3. Mortgage Rates Dip to 6.79% as Fresh Listings Flood the Market
       (Realtor.com / Getty Images)
       Trends
       Mortgage Rates Dip to 6.79% as Fresh Listings Flood the Market
       By Margaret Heidenry
       Mar 28, 2024

       Mortgage rates fell this week as a rush of fresh listings hit the market.

       The average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan dropped from 6.87% to 6.79% for the week ending March 28, according to Freddie Mac.

       “Mortgage rates moved slightly lower this week, providing a bit more room in the budgets of some prospective homebuyers,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Regardless, rates remain elevated near 7% as markets watch for signs of cooling inflation, hoping that rates will come down further.”

       Homebuyers intimidated by the ups and downs of mortgage rates do have some good news to celebrate right now: For the week ending March 23, more new listings hit the market than a year earlier.

       “The growth rate of 14.9% remains among the fastest increase rates in new listings since June 2021,” says Realtor.com® economist Jiayi Xu in her most recent analysis. “As the number of fresh listings continues to grow, homebuyers this spring have a wider array of options compared to this time last year.”
       …
       https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/housing-statistics-week-ending-3-28-24/

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