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A Haunting Testament To The Pitfalls Of Speculative Investments

A report from the Gazette Journal. “This year is shaping up to be deja vu all over again for the Reno-Sparks new housing market, with stubbornly high mortgage rates and elevated prices for buyers. ‘2024 will be an ugly year,’ said Brian Bonnenfant, project manager for the Center for Regional Studies. ‘It will be just like 2023.’ The low number of new homes sold during the first quarter of 2024 mirrored 2023, averaging a little over 100 a month, according to an analysis of Washoe County new housing data by the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. ‘We saw demand fall apart last year in July,’ Bonnenfant said. ‘When mortgage rates went up, sellers locked down and buyers disappeared.'”

“The median sales price for a new single-family home in Reno-Sparks was $574,680 in March. Although not as high as last year and 2022, when some months topped $650,000. Last year also saw the highest median price ever recorded for new single-family homes Reno-Sparks — $676,434 in July. Construction costs are also a factor, Bonnenfant added. ‘We’re seeing some impact from material price drops, which is what happens when the demand falls off,’ Bonnenfant said. ‘Prices start dropping too with it.'”

The Herald Tribune in Florida “A recent report from national real estate website Redfin spotlighted Sarasota for its surging number of homes for sale at the same time as sellers slash prices faster than anywhere else in the country. Sarasota metro led the country in the percentage of properties that saw a price cut, with 48% of sellers reducing their prices. There has been a spike in inventory of 64.6% over the past year, according to statistics maintained by the Realtors Association of Sarasota and Manatee. Rob Goldman, a Realtor with Michael Saunders & Co. who focuses on the Venice area, said price cuts have become increasingly common in the Sarasota real estate market. He attributes the increase to Realtors not being clear to their clients about shifting market conditions and appropriately pricing the property. ‘Some sellers still think it’s way up,’ he said. ‘But it’s actually 5% to 10% lower (than peak price).'”

From Money. “The demand for vacation home mortgages has plunged to around an eight-year low, declining 65% since 2021, according to a new report from Redfin. In 2023, homebuyers took out 90,772 mortgages for second homes, which was a 40% decrease from 2022 and 65% lower than the 2021 level. The report notes that 2024 appears on track to be another slow year for vacation home purchases. The number of primary home mortgages also declined significantly from 2022 to 2023, but only by half as much as mortgages for secondary homes (a 20% decrease vs. 40%). ‘People who would need a mortgage are still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for rates to come down–especially because rates are typically even higher for second homes than primary homes,’ Heather Mahmood-Corley, a Redfin agent in Phoenix, said in the report.”

The Olympian in Washington. “As the seasons move from winter and deeper into spring, the Thurston County housing market typically finds new life in the form of more sales. But that did not happen in April, according to new data released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Windermere Olympia owner Steve Garrett said the market hit a ‘small lull’ in April. ‘We did not see the number of showings we normally see,’ he said. Open houses were still pretty well attended and yet the offers did not materialize, Garrett added.”

The New York Post. “Wendy Williams’ cherished Manhattan penthouse, once hailed as her dream abode, has been sold off by her guardian, The Post has learned. The transaction, which closed on May 10, occurred only several years after Williams acquired the Financial District property. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse traded hands for $3.75 million, marking a considerable decrease of $822,000 from its purchase price in July 2021.”

Newsweek on California. “Worries over high housing costs have Los Angeles residents contemplating leaving the city, according to a survey from the Los Angeles Business Council. Eighty-seven percent said housing affordability was a serious problem in the city. Another voter said that they spend about 30 percent to 40 percent of their earnings on rent and lamented the high home prices. ‘For me, the values of the cost of the houses aren’t worth it,’ they said, adding that their mother’s home was worth $500,000. ‘It’s a very nice house, but here a $500,000 house, you live in the slums.'”

Hoodline in California. “A long-abandoned plot in downtown San Francisco, once poised for development, continues to gather dust. At the same time, a city-based homelessness nonprofit is hit with allegations of nepotism and swindling, further emphasizing urban struggles. The vacant lot located at 1125 Market St. has been an eyesore for residents for nearly 30 years, with no clear future despite passing through various owners and plans for development, according to The Standard. In sharp contrast to the inertia at the empty lot, Providence Foundation of San Francisco, a nonprofit working with the city’s homeless, finds itself mired in scandal. The City Attorney’s Office has accused the Providence Foundation of submitting at least $105,000 in fake invoices for nonexistent work, and the organization has been barred from receiving further funding from the city. ‘This nonprofit took over $100,000 of public money meant to benefit people experiencing homelessness. That cannot be tolerated,’ City Attorney David Chiu stated in a press release obtained by The Standard.”

From Bisnow. “A 359-unit apartment building on Bethesda’s Wisconsin Avenue corridor that delivered in 2016 has sold at a sizable discount from its first trade. AIR Communities purchased Flats 8300 at 8300 Wisconsin Ave. for $129.8M late last month, Montgomery County property records show. The Denver-based REIT announced the deal in a LinkedIn post. The seller, Invesco Real Estate, had paid $207M for the property in the summer of 2016, just months after delivery, Bisnow first reported. That deal set a record at the time for the priciest multifamily sale in Maryland. This latest sale price represents a 37% discount.”

The Real Deal. “Days after multifamily lender Arbor Realty Trust reported a surge in delinquencies and a multi-billion-dollar effort to plug those holes, Ready Capital disclosed parallel pain points with a similar origin story: multifamily syndicators. In its first-quarter earnings release, Ready Capital, a go-to debt source for firms such as GVA and Tides Equities, reported 10 percent of its $6.6 billion bridge loan book — the short-term floating-rate debt favored by syndicators — was over 60 days delinquent. That’s a 284 percent increase from the same period last year.”

“The sponsors behind much of that troubled debt are the value-add multifamily buyers that borrowed at floating rates, failed to finish planned renovations and now lack the revenue to pay their loans. Those borrowers often syndicate or pool equity from retail and institutional investors to buy property. Arbor in the first quarter modified nearly $2 billion in loans to keep the blood off its balance sheet. The firm pushed out due dates and offered temporary rate relief if sponsors agreed to pay down principal, purchase new rate caps or plump up reserves.”

Storeys in Canada. “The start of May brought yet another instance of a housing provider filing for creditor’s protection, recent court documents show. According to an initial order filed with the Ontario courts on May 3, 2024, Clarkson Road Holdings et al. — owners of a residential development project located in Mississauga — have obtained protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), which essentially means that PwC Canada will be closely monitoring the financials of the company here on out. According to the May 3 order, Clarkson has been afforded ‘stay protection’ for a 10-day period, limited court-ordered charges, and $100,000 ‘to provide sufficient financing for necessary expenses and necessary relief during the initial stay period to pave the way for a sale process.'”

“The amount of the liabilities is quite hefty, mind you, coming in at approximately $54M. The project has accrued construction liens in the approximate total of $27M, and that sum is due to a secured lender known as CS Capital Limited. CS Capital is not a ‘traditional mortgage lender’ the court documents say. Rather, they are the ‘successor in interest to the original vendor, which is QRC Limited Partnership. QRC provided a vendor take-back mortgage in the principal amount of $20M when Eleven purchased shares and limited partnership units of the entities that own 111 Clarkson,’ the court documents say, later adding that that vendor take-back mortgage is currently in default.”

ABC News in Australia. “As Australia’s tax season rolls around again, the national tax office has a familiar group in its sights: landlords. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) this week revealed Australians with rental properties were one of three groups under scrutiny, after findings that nine out of 10 landlords were making mistakes on their returns. So why are landlords falling foul of tax return rules so often? Brisbane-based landlord Merwyn Machado, who has sold two of his three rentals since 2022 and is considering selling his third, said many investors were struggling under higher mortgage rates, higher land taxes and higher council rates.”

“He said it was only human to try and ‘claw back’ something from the government when times were tougher, but he did not believe landlords were intentionally trying to evade tax. ‘We all want to make ends meet and we all have ups and downs like everyone else,’ he said. He sold the first because it was losing money and nearby developments had caused prices to flatten. He said he sold the second because it would be unaffordable to keep in the higher interest rate environment, and the market was strong.”

“Mr Machado made substantial capital gains on both properties, with both jumping from 70 to 100 per cent in price during the five to seven years he owned them. ‘I think I speak for most of the investors, there might be a few who hold onto their properties, but most just want to sell because the rates are going up, the land tax is going up. All of the taxes on everything that the investment property is doing is going up. It doesn’t make sense to be in for the long term.'”

From Yahoo News. “A frustrated grandmother living with four generations of family in her half-built home says she’s out of pocket almost $1 million after the company she hired to construct the property went into liquidation. The mum said not only is her home incomplete, what has been built is subpar and even ‘dangerous.’ New Zealand woman Christina Ehret, from Whangaparoa, north of Auckland, said construction on her ‘dream home’ got off to a good start in 2018, but quickly stalled. Now, five years down the line, she’s inhabiting the home despite it not being signed off as safe by council.”

“‘It’s draining,’ Ehret told Stuff. ‘The stress … has been extreme.’ Ehret said she expected the build to take just months, but it was almost immediately plagued by issues. So far, having spent $930,000 (A$847,000), she’s still got no idea when it will be finished. ‘You shouldn’t be able to look under the bathroom door and see the person sitting on the toilet,’ Ehret said. ‘I didn’t pay to have a water feature in my lounge.'”

From Reuters. “When China’s local governments began compiling a ‘whitelist’ of housing projects for loans earlier this year, troubled developers hoped it would open a spigot of credit for a sector that remains a major stumbling block to a broad economic revival. Those new loans were granted for fewer than a handful of projects and lending received so far was equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars per project, three of the people told Reuters. That’s just a drop in the ocean given the vast stock of unfinished housing – a Reuters report in March estimated that the ‘whitelist’ programme covers projects that need fresh financing of 1.5 trillion yuan ($207.51 billion).”

“‘We think it’s a bad deal because financing incurs interest,’ a senior executive at the developer told Reuters. ‘Once we use the ‘whitelist’ loans we have to complete the construction. However, we’re not able to sell all of the units under this bad market so it’s only increasing costs for us.’ ‘For banks it’s impossible to actively promote such loss-making business. If we did so, we would face the punishment of surging non-performing loans as well,’ one banker said.”

The Daily Mirror. “Their pledges of economic prosperity crumbled amidst the pandemic’s global onslaught, leaving behind landscapes scarred by deserted buildings and dashed hopes. Malaysia’s Forest City and Cambodia’s Sihanoukville have suffered immensely from China’s property sector crisis. From the half-finished structures of Forest City in Johor, Malaysia, to the desolate shores of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, the narrative of China’s real estate giants reflects unbridled ambition and dire consequences. Both locales are now labeled as ghost cities.”

“The property bubble burst in late 2021, triggered by the default of China Evergrande Group, one of the nation’s largest property developers, on a debt totaling $340 billion by the end of 2022. In the same period, another major developer, Country Garden, defaulted on millions of dollars in interest payments linked to two offshore bonds, signaling further distress in the sector.”

“These events reverberated onto foreign ventures. Forest City, once touted as Southeast Asia’s housing pinnacle, now stands deserted. It serves as a haunting testament to the pitfalls of speculative investments and excessive urban planning. Envisioned as a bustling metropolis for hundreds of thousands, the project promised modernity and prosperity but instead yielded desolation and decay. With the burst of the Chinese property bubble, Forest City collapsed like a house of cards, leaving behind a landscape dotted with vacant skyscrapers and abandoned aspirations.”

“Regrettably, Forest City is just one episode in the broader narrative of China’s ghost cities. In Cambodia’s Sihanoukville, the departure of Chinese real estate entities has left the coastal resort town strewn with numerous incomplete projects. Once dubbed the second Macao amidst the influx of Chinese capital, Sihanoukville now grapples with economic downturn and shattered dreams. Sihanoukville boasts numerous ghost structures. According to the city government, there are roughly 360 unfinished buildings and approximately 170 completed but unoccupied ones.”

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This Post Has 79 Comments

  1. HBB warning to readers: reuters is globalist scum media that peddles conspiracy theories, elections lies and mis, mal and dis-informations.

  3. wendy always reminded me of drag queens, and there is no pregnancy pictures of her and moo obama…..

    U.S. politicians and manufacturers already see Chinese EVs as a serious threat. The Biden administration on Tuesday is expected to announce 100% tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, saying they pose a threat to U.S. jobs and national security.

    BYD. a buffet investment.

    https://www.yahoo.com/tech/small-well-built-chinese-ev-055434766.html

    1. There is talk of the Chinese EV’s being assembled in Mexico, and thus being covered by the free trade agreement.

      1. That’s where the “bloodbath” thing came from, and the MSM to the ball and ran with it.

        Trump warns of ‘bloodbath’ for auto industry and country if he loses the election

        By Arit John, Kit Maher and Alayna Treene, CNN
        Published 12:12 AM EDT, Sun March 17, 2024

        Former President Donald Trump warned Saturday that if he were to lose the 2024 election, it would be a “bloodbath” for the US auto industry and the country.

        The comment came in the midst of an extended riff on the auto industry, unions, the transition to electric vehicles and auto plants in Mexico. Trump has sought to woo autoworkers and appeal to voters in Rust Belt states by hammering on trade, tariffs and EV manufacturing. Trump told CNBC this month that he would place a 50% tariff on cars made in Chinese plants in Mexico.

        https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/16/politics/trump-bloodbath-auto-industry-election/index.html

        1. Detroit needs to make useful cars that don’t cost $50K. And they need to stop depending on pickups that cost a king’s ransom.

          1. This is the constant drone of the cyclepaths and train brains that seem to have flooded my X timeline as of late.

            When you point out it’s caused by CAFE requirements they either go silent or demand that daddy government regulate us harder.

  4. ‘Once we use the ‘whitelist’ loans we have to complete the construction. However, we’re not able to sell all of the units under this bad market so it’s only increasing costs for us.’

    Wouldn’t it be more efficient for China to just demolish the excess units than finish them? What is the advantage to finishing unneeded extra housing?

    1. “Forest City collapsed like a house of cards, leaving behind a landscape dotted with vacant skyscrapers and abandoned aspirations.”

      What is the destiny of all these ghost cities China built?

  5. Ready Capital, a go-to debt source for firms such as GVA and Tides Equities, reported 10 percent of its $6.6 billion bridge loan book — the short-term floating-rate debt favored by syndicators — was over 60 days delinquent. That’s a 284 percent increase from the same period last year.

    Dang.

    1. This isn’t going to end well for most of the meme stock baggies. They’d be better off buying up physical gold and silver so that the Fed’s bullion bank market-rigging accomplices would see their vast naked shorting blow up in their rodent-like faces.

  7. The CEO of Indeed, the Texas- and Connecticut-based job search company, announced Monday that he’s laying off about 1,000 workers. He specifically called out the company’s Foster City employees in the message.

    Indeed’s layoff round will include 87 workers from the Bay Area office, according to a WARN notice filed Monday by the company. The filing, which was required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act due to the size of the layoff, said the permanent layoffs will officially go into effect July 12 and July 31. Indeed’s Foster City office is at 1051 E. Hillsdale Blvd.

    was published Monday on Indeed’s website. He said the cuts represent 8% of the company’s workforce.

    Hyams began his note with a reference to Indeed’s 2,200-worker layoff in March 2023.

    “Unlike last year, where our reduction was driven by cost savings, we are taking this action because we need to simplify our organization to make it easier and faster for us to make decisions, and help us to more effectively grow revenue and hires,” he wrote. Hyams noted that 2023’s layoffs had helped the company reach stable profitability.

    Later in the missive, he said the company would be restructuring its research and development team and “reducing layers of management.” He also wrote that Indeed “will be eliminating most of the Sales and CS roles in Foster City, California,” but didn’t mention any other individual offices.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/indeed-s-1-000-worker-layoff-includes-dozens-at-bay-area-office/ar-BB1mkElT

    1. It takes about $12k per month of pre tax income to be middle class in the San Francisco bay area these days. No job is the death knell!

    1. Why go shopping at the mall when you can order online? And people like Steve Buscemi can tell you it’s not safe out in public either because the vibrants are polar bear hunting.

  9. A big San Jose office building has been seized by its lender through a foreclosure that serves up fresh evidence the Bay Area commercial real estate sector continues to wobble.

    The office building is located near the corner of North First Street and Montague Expressway, one of the city’s busy intersections. It is perched next to a light rail line.

    The building, which once was leased to Nio USA, a unit of a China-based maker of electric vehicles, totals 99,400 square feet. Nio vacated the building in October 2023, documents on file in San Francisco Superior Court show.

    In 2018, East West Bank provided $25 million in financing to Santa Monica-based Vista Investment Group, the real estate firm that defaulted on the loan and eventually lost ownership of the building in the foreclosure proceeding.

    Nio USA began renting the building in August 2018. Nio’s lease ended in October 2023 and wasn’t renewed.

    October 2023 was the same month the building owner allowed the property loan to topple into delinquency.

    In August 2022, Nio USA advised Vista Investment Group that the electric vehicle maker intended to exit the property upon the conclusion of the lease and wouldn’t be renewing or extending its occupancy.

    The foreclosure and seizure of the building provide fresh evidence that financial maladies continue to afflict the Bay Area office market in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/big-san-jose-office-building-is-seized-by-lender-as-market-wobbles/ar-BB1mjdJt

  10. There was a record net migration loss of 52,500 New Zealand citizens in the year ended March 2024, according to provisional estimates released by Stats NZ today.

    “This is the first time the annual net migration loss of New Zealand citizens has exceeded 50,000,” population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said. “That equates to 1,000 more New Zealand citizens departing long-term than arriving long-term each week.”

    Before the current high levels, the record annual net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 44,400 in the February 2012 year.

    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2405/S00063/net-migration-loss-of-new-zealand-citizens-exceeds-50000.htm

    1. Where are they going?

      Are they heritage New Zealanders or are they naturalized foreigners who decided they have had enough?

      1. I believe most of them go to Australia Just for the logistics of it more than anything else.And I’m sure a good bit come here in Canada. I know a family from there and it is a wonderful place But there’s not much going on with the economy.They just don’t have the raw materials. Sort of like a large Caribbean island without all the heat.

        1. I believe most of them go to Australia

          I suppose there are somewhat better jobs in Oz, though its economy is also in tatters.

          Sort of like a large Caribbean island without all the heat.

          A third world economy.

  11. Surprise, surprise, too-big government is creating more too-big-to-fail financial firms. Biden Administration regulators on Friday teed up mortgage companies for designation as systemically important institutions like giant banks.

    “Vulnerabilities of nonbank mortgage companies can amplify shocks in the mortgage market and undermine financial stability,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declared. A new report by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) finds “their specialized business model means they are especially susceptible to macroeconomic fluctuations in the housing market.”

    The Dodd-Frank Act established FSOC to monitor and manage risks to the financial system, and progressives want to grab more control over non-banks. Regulators are using the risks they created to justify putting non-bank mortgage servicers under their thumb—and available for taxpayer bailouts.

    According to FSOC, non-banks originate two-thirds of mortgages and service 54% of balances, up from 39% and 4% respectively in 2008. After the financial panic, the report says “banks pulled back from mortgage origination and servicing in part due to heightened regulation and sensitivity to the cost and uncertainty associated with delinquent mortgages.”

    FSOC says many mortgage companies are highly levered and could experience stress if banks reprice their credit or cut them off. Why might this happen? Rising interest rates and stricter bank capital standards such as those recently proposed by the Fed.

    The more pressing risk is a slow housing market. Historically low interest rates during the pandemic were a boon to mortgage companies. But higher rates have crimped new loans and refinancing. FSOC says mortgage companies went from making on average $4,500 per loan in 2020 to losing $1,000 per loan in 2023.

    Some of these companies are at risk of failing. “Since most large nonbank mortgage servicers also originate mortgages, losses in their origination operations may affect their ability to service loans,” FSOC says. If a non-bank fails, mortgage investors might not get paid until its servicing rights are transferred to a new entity, which can take months.

    FSOC warns that taxpayers are at risk because government agencies or sponsored enterprises guarantee about 68% of mortgages, up from about half at the time of the financial crisis. Concerns about mortgage-company vulnerabilities “have become more acute because of the increasing federal government exposure,” FSOC says.

    In short, taxpayers must now cover the risks that government created. FSOC wants Congress to establish a fund, supposedly financed by the industry, that mortgage companies could tap for liquidity if they fail. It says this fund should “be accompanied by the additional regulatory authorities and consumer protections” that would let federal agencies regulate them like banks.

    Taxpayers would be the ultimate guarantors, as they are for the giant banks and government-sponsored enterprises. FSOC’s recommendation would encourage moral hazard, and not only by financial institutions. Progressive regulators would be emboldened to attack mortgage companies since there would be fewer practical consequences if they drive them out of business.

    FSOC’s report is a strong argument against Freddie Mac’s new proposal to guarantee second mortgages. Freddie’s plan is intended partly to create a new line of business to support struggling mortgage companies. But if these non-banks pose significant risks to the financial system as FSOC says, why help them expand into new markets?

    Taxpayers are standing behind some $9 trillion in mortgages. As government grows, so does the taxpayer backstop.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/opinion-janet-yellen-s-new-too-big-to-fail-firms/ar-BB1mkm3K

  12. There has been a spike in inventory of 64.6% over the past year, according to statistics maintained by the Realtors Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

    Is that a lot?

  13. Arbor in the first quarter modified nearly $2 billion in loans to keep the blood off its balance sheet.

    With such worthy stewards of the financial system as Senators Maxine Waters and Fauxahontus on the job, surely this “extend and pretend” does not signify fraudulent accounting or systemic risks as the underlying collateral backing those loans continues to deteriorate.

  14. Totally sustainable.

    And nothing but sound lending.

    New York Post — US home prices have soared 47% since 2020 (5/13/2024):

    “A recent analysis by ResiClub of the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index has unveiled a jaw-dropping surge in US home prices, soaring a lofty 47.1% since the dawn of this decade.

    The boom witnessed in the early years of the 2020s has outpaced not only the growth of the 1990s and 2010s — but is now threatening to surpass the entirety of the 2000s.

    Even the dizzying heights reached before the 2007 housing market meltdown are within striking distance.

    This decade’s housing market frenzy was ignited by a perfect storm — the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic triggering an unprecedented rush among buyers.

    The result? A staggering 20% surge in prices within a mere 12 months.

    Despite mortgage rates skyrocketing to around 7%, double what they were at the peak of the pandemic, home prices refuse to plateau.”

    https://nypost.com/2024/05/13/real-estate/us-home-prices-have-soared-47-since-2020/

    Refuse to plateau?

    And trees grow into the sky.

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

    1. “Even the dizzying heights reached before the 2007 housing market meltdown are within striking distance.”

      No bubble here, folks…

  15. This latest sale price represents a 37% discount.”

    Fake wealth created by the Fed’s gusher of funny money is evaporating like FB tears in the rain.

  16. “I think therefore I am.” — Rene Descartes

    “I lie, therefore I sell real estate.” — Every NAR dissembler

    1. [Related to this ^ is this …]

      Copper Scrappers Target Tesla Superchargers As Metal Prices Soar

      https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ive-worked-few-billionaires-29-041602123.html

      [snip]

      Thieves are targeting electric vehicle charging stations because the charging cords at each stall contain a ‘gold mine’ of copper that can easily be scrapped.

      Targeting EV charging stations is nothing new. Still, thieves are noticing copper prices moving higher, mainly due to strained mining supplies and robust demand for powering up America in the digital age. And this trend might spark concern with Elon Musk, as his Tesla Superchargers are being targeted in imploding California.

      One Bay Area Supercharger Station had all charging cords severed. This is terrible news for EV drivers rolling up with low battery.

      [snip]

      EV blog Teslarati said thieves are targeting Tesla Superchargers across several states:

      It now seems this is a new form of attack on Tesla Superchargers, as another identical incident occurred last week in Houston, Texas. Thieves also cut the charging cables in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this year.

      This comes as Goldman’s Nicholas Snowdon has warned about the entire copper market “moving into extreme tightness.”

      How will Musk protect Superchargers from thieves?

      More importantly, violent crime and theft are a byproduct of failed social justice warriors in progressive states and metro areas that care very little about law and order and more about the destruction of the country.

  19. Does it reach a point that you can’t pull off election fraud because Biden only really has 30% or less support.
    Maybe its impossible to rig a election if Biden is not
    even close to being competitive.
    Biden getting the most votes in history in 2020 was not very plausible , or impossible.
    But to be able to fake a candidate that has 30% or less support would be to wide a gap.
    So, what are they going to do to ensure that Biden wins, or some last minute replacement of Biden.
    I still predict a last minute Michelle Obama, or Newsom, or who knows.

    1. In the Flynn interview above he mentions several but touches on 2 points about the 2020 election. One, that Pennsylvania had more votes than eligible voters and two, they recently found seventeen-thousand fraudulent votes in Georgia. The whole time Cuomo is spouting off that there was no fraud found at all.

      1. May have stated before but Wisconsin is the best imo. IF you believe the turnout numbers it was a five sigma event. Basically a 1 in 4 million chance that that many voters actually voted in that election as a percentage of turnout based on every other election in that state history. So first you have to believe that happened. Then the results.

    2. “impossible to rig a election”

      Bird flu election year variant has already been cooked up in the lab.

      It is the timing of its release that will rig the election for Democrat Party.

      Every vote blue big city sh*thole in this country will be on fire this summer, and they’ll still steal the election, because Democrat Party.

      These people hate America, and they want you dead ☠️

    3. “I still predict a last minute Michelle Obama, or Newsom, or who knows.”

      The progressive movement is such a failure!

  21. [Be afraid, be very, very afraid …]

    World Bank Launches First Global Framework for Agri-Food Emissions

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/05/14/world-bank-launches-first-global-framework-for-agri-food-emissions/

    The recent report from the World Bank, “Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System,” touts the possibility of making significant cuts to global agrifood emissions through a variety of prescriptive measures. The historical record of such centralized initiatives suggests a high probability of resulting in unintended and often detrimental consequences.

    The report asserts:

    “The global agrifood system presents a huge opportunity to cut almost a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions through affordable and readily available actions, while continuing to feed a growing population.”

    This sweeping statement masks the complexity and potential dangers of radically altering food production and land use, particularly in the vulnerable regions of the world. The claim that such changes can be implemented without jeopardizing food security is optimistic at best and recklessly naive at worst.

    Axel van Trotsenburg of the World Bank further champions these changes:

    “While the food on your table may taste good, it is also a hefty slice of the climate change emissions pie. The good news is that the global food system can heal the planet – making soils, ecosystems, and people healthier, while keeping carbon in the ground. This is within reach in our lifetimes, but countries must act now: simply changing how middle-income countries use land, such as forests and ecosystems, for food production can cut agrifood emissions by a third by 2030.”

    This narrative promotes a troubling confidence in the efficacy of sweeping regulatory changes, disregarding the diverse agricultural practices that have been honed by local farmers over centuries. The assumption that such top-down mandates can lead to positive outcomes without disruptive side effects reflects a misunderstanding of ecological, social, and economic interdependencies.

    The World Bank’s plan includes a broad array of actions:

    “Action should happen across all countries to get to net zero, through a comprehensive approach to reducing emissions in food systems, including in fertilizers and energy, crop and livestock production, and packaging and distribution across the value chain from farm to table.”

    This proposal to standardize farming practices across vastly different regions and cultures not only smacks of overreach but also underestimates the complexity of local ecosystems and the adaptability required to manage them effectively.

    The framework posits that high investment costs will yield significant returns:

    “Annual investments will need to increase to $260 billion a year to cut in half agrifood emissions by 2030 and to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Making these investments would lead to more than $4 trillion in benefits, from improvements in human health, food and nutrition security, better quality jobs and profits for farmers, to more carbon retained in forests and soils.”

    However, the focus on monetary investment and projected returns overlooks the real-world complexities of agricultural economics. Such massive redirection of funds risks creating new economic imbalances, potentially leading to increased food prices and decreased access to necessary resources for the world’s poorest populations.

    Ultimately, the World Bank’s ambitious project to restructure global agriculture underestimates the risks of unintended consequences, including food shortages, economic disruption, and increased hardship for the most vulnerable. History teaches that centralized interventions in complex systems such as global agriculture often lead to outcomes opposite those intended, driven by a failure to account for the organic and evolved nature of these systems. The portrayal of these interventions as low-risk and high-return is not only misleading but potentially dangerous, paving the way for a future where the global food supply is less secure and more susceptible to the whims of bureaucratic mismanagement.

    At the very least the pursuit of such grandiose plans should be viewed with skepticism and caution, as history has repeatedly shown that the road to disaster is often paved with well-intentioned global initiatives.

    1. [The above article reminds me of this guy …]

      Trofim Denisovich Lysenko.

      Lysenko was a Soviet agronomist and pseudoscientist. He was a strong proponent of Lamarckism, and rejected Mendelian genetics in favour of his own idiosyncratic, pseudoscientific ideas later termed Lysenkoism.

      In 1940, Lysenko became director of the Institute of Genetics of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and he used his political influence and power to suppress dissenting opinions and discredit, marginalize, and imprison his critics, elevating his anti-Mendelian theories to state-sanctioned doctrine.

      Soviet scientists who refused to renounce genetics were dismissed from their posts and left destitute. Hundreds if not thousands of others were imprisoned. Several were sentenced to death as enemies of the state, including the botanist Nikolai Vavilov. Lysenko’s ideas and practices contributed to the famines that killed millions of Soviet people; the adoption of his methods from 1958 in the People’s Republic of China had similarly calamitous results, culminating in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959 to 1962.

      [Go here to read the rest …]

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trofim_Lysenko

    2. Bottom Line:

      You will eat bugs and like them. You will not complain. Your ankle bracelets that monitor your movements are only used to serve you. You will live in cubes. Those with desirable blood types will always be first in line. Your children will be chosen from the bottom of a long glass tube. Don’t Worry, Be Happy. [1]

      [1] The .01% (Global finance masters) are exempt from all regulations.
      They can go enjoy that steak and champagne on their yachts after a hard day at the tennis club / golf course.

      1. “They can go enjoy that steak and champagne on their yachts”

        The Parasite Class.

        Never produced a thing of value a day of their lives.

      1. Related article:

        “One government climate scientist made the mistake of blurting out the real end-game of so many radical environmental activists in a bid to preserve the planet: Killing off the human population.

        Bill McGuire, a Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London (UCL), authored a tweet Sunday that lamented the fact carbon emissions were not falling nearly as fast as needed and suggested solving the “climate crisis” with a deadly pandemic to wipe out swaths of the human population.

        “If I am brutally honest, the only realistic way I see emissions falling as fast as they need to, to avoid catastrophic #climate breakdown, is the culling of the human population by a pandemic with a very high fatality rate,” he wrote.

        https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/sick-climate-scientist-suggests-culling-human-population-deadly/

        1. Suddenly There Aren’t Enough Babies. The Whole World Is Alarmed.
          Birthrates are falling fast across countries, ​with economic, social and geopolitical ​consequences
          Children played on swings at a school in Tamba, Japan.
          Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg News
          By Greg Ip and Janet Adamy
          May 13, 2024 12:01 am ET

          The world is at a startling demographic milestone. Sometime soon, the global fertility rate will drop below the point needed to keep population constant. It may have already happened.

          Fertility is falling almost everywhere, for women across all levels of income, education and labor-force participation. The falling birthrates come with huge implications for the way people live, how economies grow and the standings of the world’s superpowers.
          …
          https://www.wsj.com/world/birthrates-global-decline-cause-ddaf8be2

  22. The Trump trial and college campus protests have done a nice job of keeping the adventures of Hunter (among other things) off the front page recently.

    Judge rejects Hunter Biden’s bid to delay his June trial on federal gun charges

    BY CLAUDIA LAUER AND ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
    Updated 2:47 PM EDT, May 14, 2024

    WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden’s federal gun case will go to trial next month, a judge said Tuesday, denying a bid by lawyers for the president’s son to delay the prosecution.

    https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-trial-firearms-charges-f7e30bff8d0e96e850fa17c67fc13eb6

  23. Image file for Jeff — Twelve Cubic Yards Edition:

    https://ibb.co/yNLcPFD

    These smaller rolloffs fill up fast, I’m getting a new one delivered every week for the next three weeks.

    And yes that is a box for the Milwaukee grass trimmer. The Home Cheapo gas powered one I bought last year doesn’t work very well.

    1. That is one hell of a one man deno project you have going there, but your posts show steady and tenacious progress.

      By the way, are those wood slats from a plaster wall in that dumpster?

      2. “are those wood slats from a plaster wall”

        Yes. And have some Twofer Tuesday bonus pics. Here’s a few thousand bricks I saved from the house:

        https://ibb.co/PDNnTjF

        Cleaning out this is going to suck:

        https://ibb.co/kyz6PS1

        I’m getting some help from Denver the next two weekends, and I have hired some locals for general labor, but 95% of this has all been myself.

        I’m almost down to the foundation now. Early June will be one year since closing on the purchase…

        1. Pic number 1: I have seen people pay a lot of money for bricks like that.

          Pic number 2: That is going to suck.

          Stii, awesome job keep it up.

  24. Again John Kerry in summary is saying that no Politician or President can stop the market forces that can’t be stopped according to John Kerry.
    If the market forces are zero carbons by 2050, than the market forces must be stopped as a anti humanity genocidal
    force by lunatics.

  26. I would like to suggest a new tradition called “The Tuesday Chuckle” I offer this as the first edition and by all means anyone can feel free to have another ready for next Tuesday.

    Greg Price
    @greg_price11

    Mayor Adams says illegal aliens could be used to fill New York City’s lifeguard shortage because they are “excellent swimmers.”

    May 14, 2024

    https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1790446907661095183

    1. Nothing like having an undocumented 27 year old Venezuelan life guard who is a convicted rapist and murderer watching over a beach filled with nine, ten and eleven year old girls in bathing suits.

      Yet another great idea from Mayor Adams!

  27. ‘The median sales price for a new single-family home in Reno-Sparks was $574,680 in March. Although not as high as last year and 2022, when some months topped $650,000. Last year also saw the highest median price ever recorded for new single-family homes Reno-Sparks — $676,434 in July’

    It’s a good thing everybody put 20% down Brian.

  28. ‘price cuts have become increasingly common in the Sarasota real estate market. He attributes the increase to Realtors not being clear to their clients about shifting market conditions and appropriately pricing the property. ‘Some sellers still think it’s way up,’ he said. ‘But it’s actually 5% to 10% lower (than peak price)’

    So UHS were a lion Rob?

  29. ‘The demand for vacation home mortgages has plunged to around an eight-year low, declining 65% since 2021’

    The speculative stuff dries up first.

  30. ‘For me, the values of the cost of the houses aren’t worth it,’ they said, adding that their mother’s home was worth $500,000. ‘It’s a very nice house, but here a $500,000 house, you live in the slums’

    I think you are under-valuing the weather voter.

  31. ‘Ready Capital, a go-to debt source for firms such as GVA and Tides Equities, reported 10 percent of its $6.6 billion bridge loan book — the short-term floating-rate debt favored by syndicators — was over 60 days delinquent. That’s a 284 percent increase from the same period last year…The sponsors behind much of that troubled debt are the value-add multifamily buyers that borrowed at floating rates, failed to finish planned renovations and now lack the revenue to pay their loans’

    This syndication blowup is under reported in significance. IIRC Arbor had 30,000 units. Multi-billion peso craters leave a mark.

    ‘Those borrowers often syndicate or pool equity from retail and institutional investors to buy property. Arbor in the first quarter modified nearly $2 billion in loans to keep the blood off its balance sheet. The firm pushed out due dates and offered temporary rate relief if sponsors agreed to pay down principal, purchase new rate caps or plump up reserves’

    These guys expected to put in money and count the sweet equity as it rolled in for years. Now they are being asked to write the big check!

  32. ‘The seller, Invesco Real Estate, had paid $207M for the property in the summer of 2016, just months after delivery, Bisnow first reported. That deal set a record at the time for the priciest multifamily sale in Maryland. This latest sale price represents a 37% discount’

    How do you like those 5% cap rates now?

  33. ‘The amount of the liabilities is quite hefty, mind you, coming in at approximately $54M. The project has accrued construction liens in the approximate total of $27M, and that sum is due to a secured lender known as CS Capital Limited. CS Capital is not a ‘traditional mortgage lender’ the court documents say. Rather, they are the ‘successor in interest to the original vendor, which is QRC Limited Partnership. QRC provided a vendor take-back mortgage in the principal amount of $20M when Eleven purchased shares and limited partnership units of the entities that own 111 Clarkson,’ the court documents say, later adding that that vendor take-back mortgage is currently in default’

    Now you got a bunch of lawsuits on yer hands.

  34. ‘He sold the first because it was losing money and nearby developments had caused prices to flatten. He said he sold the second because it would be unaffordable to keep in the higher interest rate environment, and the market was strong…‘I think I speak for most of the investors, there might be a few who hold onto their properties, but most just want to sell because the rates are going up, the land tax is going up. All of the taxes on everything that the investment property is doing is going up. It doesn’t make sense to be in for the long term’

    Imagine how fooked the people who bought yer shacks feel reading that Merwyn. Still, good haul, let them take the arse pounding!

  35. ‘A frustrated grandmother living with four generations of family in her half-built home says she’s out of pocket almost $1 million…‘You shouldn’t be able to look under the bathroom door and see the person sitting on the toilet…I didn’t pay to have a water feature in my lounge’

    Apparently you did pay for exactly that Ehret. Maybe it wasn’t expected, but for a million pesos you get the VIP treatment.

  36. ‘Those new loans were granted for fewer than a handful of projects and lending received so far was equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars per project, three of the people told Reuters. That’s just a drop in the ocean given the vast stock of unfinished housing – a Reuters report in March estimated that the ‘whitelist’ programme covers projects that need fresh financing of 1.5 trillion yuan ($207.51 billion)’

    Central planing wasn’t built in a day.

  37. ‘Regrettably, Forest City is just one episode in the broader narrative of China’s ghost cities. In Cambodia’s Sihanoukville, the departure of Chinese real estate entities has left the coastal resort town strewn with numerous incomplete projects. Once dubbed the second Macao amidst the influx of Chinese capital, Sihanoukville now grapples with economic downturn and shattered dreams. Sihanoukville boasts numerous ghost structures. According to the city government, there are roughly 360 unfinished buildings and approximately 170 completed but unoccupied ones’

    If it’s any consolation, Macau is a sh$tshow too and has been for years.

    1. The The Spencer Davis Group tune was new to me but the Kinks and Neil Young songs brought back some really good memories of my yute.

      Thanks for posting

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