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Buyers Have The Power Right Now And They Know It

A report from WFLA. “Florida homeowners are still getting hammered by rising insurance rates and some people are getting their policies dropped altogether. It’s a concern that has James Toth crunching numbers, especially after seeing a sharp 30% spike in his premium over the last two years. ‘We’ve had homeowners insurance for going on 57 years and have never filed a claim in 40 years,’ Toth said. ‘Our rates keep going up. We’re not going to be able to live here.'”

From WSVN. “South Florida condo residents, especially those in older buildings, are being hit with crushing special assessments. When they can’t pay, they face foreclosure. We met with six condo owners. But it could have been 600 or 6,000, all using the same words. Vicki LaRue: ‘They want a special assessment.’ The words now so common at so many condos like Tara West in Fort Lauderdale, where residents say the board first doubled the monthly maintenance fee. Vicki LaRue: ‘From $459 to $920.’ And then came the crushing special assessment. Vicki LaRue: ‘They want $8,158 from each unit.’ So many South Florida condo owners just cannot afford these large special assessments. Jeanette Delegram: ‘OK. I have Stage 4 cancer, and so, I’m back working again in order to pay all this. They don’t care.'”

“The deadline to pay the special assessment passed. We were told six of the 16 owners could not pay the $8,158 in a lump sum. Ginnis Arcos: ‘They put a lien on their apartment, and they’re basically thrown on the street.'”

From KARE TV. “Joan Hasper and Floyd Grabiel have each lived at the Windwood Condominium for a number of years. But this last year, their monthly homeowner’s association fees shot up. ‘The last year has been hell, to be honest with you,’ Hasper said. ‘Mine, when I moved in, was about $500-$600 a month. Now they’re over $1100. My assessment went up about 35%,’ Grabiel said. ‘Fortunately I’m able to pay it. Some of our longer-term residents might not be able to pay as easily as I have been.’ It’s happening to people all over Minnesota. And the reason, quite simply, is hail. The HOA board received just one company willing to cover them. ‘We were stuck,’ Grabiel said.”

From NBC Dallas. “If it feels like homeowners’ insurance premiums have gone through the roof, and in some cases look more like mortgage payments, it’s probably not your imagination. Destructive weather is part of living in North Texas. Melinda Clifton has seen hail damage her roof three times in two decades. After each storm, homeowners’ insurance paid her claims to replace it. But not long after her most recent claim, she received a bill that hit like a hurricane. Last year, Clifton said her annual homeowner’s policy cost $2,600. The following year, she said the cost more than tripled to $8,800. Clifton’s policy is paid through her home escrow account, meaning the monthly insurance payments are added to her mortgage payment. Clifton said her payments went up by hundreds of dollars per month, and she questioned whether she could afford to stay in her home. ‘I’ve thought, ‘Am I going to have to sell my home? The home I raised my children in,’ Clifton said.”

Texas Real Estate Business. “Newton’s second law of physics holds that what goes up must come down, but unlike objects in freefall, retractions in real estate cycles tend to unfold with varying degrees of pace and severity. In the case of multifamily investment sales in Texas, it’s been clear for some time that the market is in a much different place than it was in late 2021 and early 2022. ‘The deals that aren’t moving are those that are maybe 80 percent levered, in which the owner didn’t do capital expenditures and paid debt service instead of doing renovations with that money — those deals are now below their debt basis,’ explains Michael Becker, principal of Texas-based investment firm SPI Advisory.”

“‘Some buyers are taking on dumpster-fire deals and turning them around, but the juice may not be worth the squeeze in terms of how much they’re offering and how much time and effort it will take to turn some of these deals around,’ Becker continues. ‘Austin in particular is oversupplied, and you can acquire those assets well below replacement cost.'”

“With broader market uncertainty comes a reluctance to transact, which can be a contagious feeling. The alternative is for owners to accept that the days of obscenely cheap debt are over, recognize that market parameters have shifted and get back to business. Acknowledge that value destruction has occurred and that some deals are dead where they stand. Resign to the reality that some return thresholds are not going to be met, and that some sales may result in losses. Embrace the downturn, rip off the Band-Aid and begin looking to the future rather than the past. This is much easier said than done, of course, especially when it’s not your money at stake. But it’s an approach that some brokers can endorse.”

Capital & Main on California. “The first complaint about illegal vacation rentals at 1940 Carmen Ave., a rent-controlled apartment building just blocks from Hollywood Boulevard, arrived at the Los Angeles Housing Department nearly a decade ago. ‘This place is crazy,’ a tenant reported in 2015, according to an inspector’s note, ‘luggage up and down, different people always in and out. Not safe.’ Inspectors cited the owner for changing the building’s use without a permit. They warned him again the next year. But after that, housing inspectors appeared to drop the matter, even as they ordered the owner to correct other building code violations. A few years later, in 2020, a tenant complained that 14 of the 21 units were listed on Airbnb.”

“Yet the city has failed to enforce the law. Booking.com recently listed one-bedroom units in the building for about $160 a night. Asked about short-term rentals, 1940 Carmen owner Alexander Stein said, ‘I would rather not discuss it. Thank you for calling, though,’ before hanging up.”

“What happened at 1940 Carmen has played out in dozens of other buildings across Los Angeles. Landlords are using rent-controlled apartments as vacation rentals in apparent violation of the law, an investigation by Capital & Main and ProPublica has found. In some cases, entire apartment buildings with more than 30 units are listed as boutique hotels on sites like Hotels.com and Booking.com. At a housing and homelessness committee hearing last fall, city planner Lance Sierra told the group that once a citation has been issued, it ‘takes between two to three years to complete.’ The chairperson, City Councilmember Nithya Raman, was incredulous. ‘Two to three years …?’ she asked. The City Council is expected to vote on recommendations to tighten the home-sharing ordinance later this year. ‘I think you have to make it so that if you violate the law, you are very likely to get a penalty,’ Raman said. ‘Unless we do that, we are going to see continued flouting of the laws — because flouting of the laws is very, very lucrative.'”

From CTV News. “Three months into B.C.’s new Airbnb rules, the NDP government says nearly half of properties listed in communities that keep the data still aren’t licensed. In Victoria alone, the city says it’s investigating more than 560 properties actively advertised that don’t have a licence. Those who bought units as retirement nest eggs and can no longer can rent them out short term cry foul. ‘I’m just really shocked that in Canada, in British Columbia, you can make an investment in your community and in your future for your family and it can be ripped away like this,’ said 62-year-old Suzanne Little, who says she has had to delay her retirement plans indefinitely as the income from her property is suddenly no longer available.”

Cottage Life in Canada. “The post-pandemic market saw a leveling-out of cottage inventory in many of the major Ontario cottage areas, including Muskoka, Parry Sound, and Kawartha Lakes. ‘There’s a gap between what sellers want and what buyers are willing to pay,” says David Donais, owner of Kawartha Waterfront Realty in Kawartha Lakes, Ont. But it’s the width of the divide that is unusual, according to Donais. ‘Sellers have the memory of what prices were like two years ago,’ he says, which is leading to more overpriced listings that sit on the market for months.”

“So, what is driving cottage sales right now? The simple answer is a well-priced listing. ‘If you’re priced higher than the market, it’s going to sit there. On the other hand, if you price competitively, it sells,’ says Donais. In Kawartha Lakes, cottages priced at the lower end of the spectrum—around $800,000 or less—are selling much more ‘robustly’ than listings at $1.5 million and above, he adds. ‘All it takes is one or two sellers to accept a fairly low price for a property, then that becomes the new benchmark,’ he says. ‘That’s the comparable and that’s what buyers will zero in on.'”

“These high listing prices follow trends outlined in RE/MAX’s cottage real estate update from April. The report predicted Ontario cottage prices would increase in 72 per cent of recreational markets, a number that, anecdotally, appears to be accurate. That said, ‘Buyers have the power right now and they know it.'”

From The Local. “An analysis from DNB Eiendom has found that around 10,000 newly built homes or homes planned to be built have not yet sold, business and financial site Dagens Næringsliv reports. This is despite the need for more new homes in Norway to combat a tight market and rising prices. ‘We have taken measures to reduce the number (of unsold homes),’ the CEO of property developer and housing association OBOS, Daniel Kjørberg Siraj, told DN. The company had around 540 unsold homes in Norway and Sweden, an increase of 140 compared to the previous year. Siraj said that if OBOS had not implemented measures, such as more favourable buying terms and offers, the number of unsold new builds in its portfolio would have been between 800 and 1,000. According to Siraj, the developer was still struggling to sell larger properties. ‘There are particularly larger apartments (going unsold). We manage to sell most small apartments,’ he said.”

Warsaw Business Journal. “The housing market in Poland has shown signs of cooling, with the first decrease in square meter prices recorded in over a year, according to 300Gospodarka. After a period of intense growth and escalating prices, the recent data suggests a stabilization. Analysts attribute this decline to a combination of increased supply, higher interest rates, and economic uncertainties impacting buyer demand. ‘While the market remains robust, we are seeing a natural correction as prices adjust,’ a real estate expert said.”

ABC News in Australia. “Construction work is continuing on a luxury home belonging to the wife of the managing director of an embattled Perth builder deregistered by authorities, while more than 230 unfinished customer homes remain unfinished. Premier Roger Cook said while he did not know the details of the homes being built for company directors and their families, he could ‘understand that adds insult to injury’ for others trying to get their homes completed. Jennifer Lee, who has been waiting more than four years for her Nicheliving house in Tapping in Perth’s north to be built, said it’s ‘not fair’ the managing directors will be able to access the indemnity insurance.”

“When the ABC visited the site yesterday, several wooden door panels of Ms Lee’s house were rotten, the flooring inside the house had turned green in colour and rubbish was scattered throughout. ‘I truly hope that they feel the pain that we have been feeling now that they’re not allowed to build anymore and that they can see what we have been going through not having our houses completed,’ she said. Ms Lee said she plans to sell her home when it’s finally completed or is even considering ‘knocking it down and starting over again.’ ‘I actually stopped driving past because it was just so depressing, so depressing,’ she said. ‘When you’ve got something with all of your life savings and nothing going forward, you’re losing out daily.'”

Business Insider. “Hong Kong once held the record for the priciest home sold in all of Asia. But some owners of the island’s most luxurious houses have been selling them at a loss this year. Some high-end properties sold in the first half of the year for up to 50% off 2018’s peak prices, said Jack Tong, the Hong Kong director of research at real estate services company Savills. ‘The lack of ultra-high-net-worth mainland tycoons due to slower China economic growth and stricter capital outflow restrictions meant no more record-breaking prices registered for the sake of trophy assets as in the pre-COVID period,’ Tong said. In the first half of the year, around 75% of properties valued over $10 million involved cash-strapped sellers, according to data from CBRE Group.”

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This Post Has 101 Comments

    1. Floyd lives in Minneapolis.
      I was surprised to see this was an issue in MN. Obviously I knew FL was toast.

  2. ‘city planner Lance Sierra told the group that once a citation has been issued, it ‘takes between two to three years to complete.’ The chairperson, City Councilmember Nithya Raman, was incredulous. ‘Two to three years …?’

    It’s the can’t do state Nithya. It take them years to build shed for bums that cost hundreds of thousands of pesos.

    3. Well that explains why only part of the crowd walked out after the concert, the rest of them had no place to go.

      1. Well that explains why only part of the crowd walked out after the concert, the rest of them had no place to go.
        Thanks for the laugh!

    4. I again draw attention to her stellar tailor. She is wearing suit jackets with wide shoulder pads on top and either a flare or peplum at the hem. These are techniques to create the illusion of a waistline and hide that she is wide around the midsection.

  5. ‘I’m just really shocked that in Canada, in British Columbia, you can make an investment in your community and in your future for your family and it can be ripped away like this,’ said 62-year-old Suzanne Little, who says she has had to delay her retirement plans indefinitely as the income from her property is suddenly no longer available.”

    You are speculator scum, Suzanne. The sooner you & your ilk are banished from running unregulated hotels in residential neighborhoods, the better for the community.

  6. Florida homeowner says his insurer dropped him when he listed his home for sale

    PalmBeachPost

    Jul 29, 2024

    Andy Williams learned he was being canceled in late spring not because of what an inspector found at his 20-year-old Cape Coral home, but because of where they found it — in the real estate listings.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5PZ-4TXFF4

    2 minutes.

  7. Some high-end properties sold in the first half of the year for up to 50% off 2018’s peak prices, said Jack Tong, the Hong Kong director of research at real estate services company Savills.

    As the lawless, tyrannical CCP tightens its grip on Hong Kong, property values have a lot further to fall.

    1. The latest official data shows Australian inflation stuck at 3.8 per cent a year.

      Meaning it’s much worse than that.

      Gooberments around the world can keep reporting these bogus numbers, but increasingly people know that it’s much worse. Plus the fact that everyone in Oz has an ARM and are seeing their P&I payments skyrocket. I’ll bet their insurance, property taxes and maintenance costs are also soaring,

  9. Lassie: bark bark bark-bark!

    Farmer: What’s that you say girl?

    Lassie: bark bark-bark bark!

    Farmer: Timmy fell down a well?

    Lassie: Bark-bark bark bark bark!

    Farmer: A realtor is lying to Timmy by claiming the only way to build intergenerational wealth is to get up on that housing ladder? Let me grab my pitchfork, girl, and we’ll run that UHS SOB off the property!

  12. For how much longer will US housing inventory have to keep growing at an annual rate of 36.6% to fully reverse the remaining 28.6% inventory shortage left over from the pandemic?

    1. Fox Business
      ECONOMY
      Published August 1, 2024 6:23am EDT
      Housing inventory just hit a post-pandemic high, and these cities saw the biggest boosts
      More homes are on the market, but prices continue to rise. Here are the cities that saw the greatest increase in listings in July
      By Breck Dumas
      FOXBusiness

      The U.S. housing market has suffered from a severe inventory shortage for years now, which continues to drive up prices and worsen the home affordability crisis.

      But new data shows more homes are now up for sale than at any time since the pandemic began, which some economists say is an encouraging signal that the housing market could be on the mend.

      Realtor.com’s July housing report released Thursday found the number of homes actively for sale nationwide grew 36.6% year-over-year last month, but still remained 28.6% lower than in July 2019, before COVID hit.
      …
      https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/housing-inventory-just-hit-post-pandemic-high-cities-saw-biggest-boosts

    3. I do a lot of walking in my hood in San Diego. I haven’t seen a house for sale all summer. Median SFH price is 10x median household income. It’s a stalemate because people can’t afford to buy but sellers can’t afford to sell unless they are moving out of state. Moving to an equivalent house in the same city would triple most people’s property taxes.

      1. The LL of the rental up the street from me just gave a single mom & her 3 young daughters the heave-ho, spent a couple of weeks tearing out carpets, etc. and now has the shack up for rent again. Will be interesting to see how long it takes to get new tenants.

      2. A lot of new listings in Poway, including the house next door that had the short-lived tenants. Some surprising pendings too.

  13. Texas Real Estate Business. “Newton’s second law of physics holds that what goes up must come down, but unlike objects in freefall, retractions in real estate cycles tend to unfold with varying degrees of pace and severity.”

    “With broader market uncertainty comes a reluctance to transact, which can be a contagious feeling. The alternative is for owners to accept that the days of obscenely cheap debt are over, recognize that market parameters have shifted and get back to business. Acknowledge that value destruction has occurred and that some deals are dead where they stand. Resign to the reality that some return thresholds are not going to be met, and that some sales may result in losses. Embrace the downturn, rip off the Band-Aid and begin looking to the future rather than the past. This is much easier said than done, of course, especially when it’s not your money at stake. But it’s an approach that some brokers can endorse.”

    – Asset bubbles have a common beginning: Cheap credit and easy financing. This is done by artificially lowering the cost of money to below the natural rate of interest. Also called the neutral rate, or r*. This would normally be the prevailing interest rate determined by free markets (what’s that?). 😂
    – Artificially low interest rates lead to asset bubbles, income inequality, a general distortion of a nation’s economy, and socio-economic instability. This includes driving people to speculation, since they can’t get a decent return on safe, or low-risk investments because on the (artificially) low rates.
    – BTW, the Fed could (and should) be replaced by the U.S. 2 year Treasury Note yield. Easy peasy. No Fed needed, but there are too few opportunities for graft and corruption in free markets. And not to mention, the process of lowering rates involves money printing and asset purchases, which is highly inflationary. The best of both worlds here. End (the very visible hand of) the Fed.

    \\

    Breakingviews – Chancellor: The mother of all speculative bubbles
    By Edward Chancellor
    September 11, 2018 | 2:56 PM EDT | Updated 6 years ago
    Commentary By Edward Chancellor

    LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) – “In 1776, English man of letters Horace Walpole observed a “rage of building everywhere”. At the time, the yield on English government bonds, known as Consols, had fallen sharply and mortgages could be had at 3.5 percent. In the “Wealth of Nations”, published that year, Adam Smith observed that the recent decline in interest had pushed up land prices: “When interest was at ten percent, land was commonly sold for ten or twelve years’ purchase. As the interest rate sunk to six, five and four percent, the purchase of land rose to twenty, five-and-twenty, and thirty years’ purchase.” [i.e. the yield on land fell from 10 percent to 3.3 percent].”

    “Smith explains why: “the ordinary price of land … depends everywhere upon the ordinary market rate of interest.” That’s because the interest rate discounts and places a capital value on future income. All the great speculative bubbles in the past – from the tulip mania of the 1630s through to the global credit bonanza of the last decade, have occurred at times when interest rates were abnormally low.”

    “The trouble is that after the Lehman Brothers collapse, central bankers refused to accept this fact. The position of Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve was that the real-estate bubble was caused by lax regulation rather than his predecessor Alan Greenspan’s easy money. If this were true, then taking short-term rates down to their lowest level in history – to zero in the United States and negative in Europe and Japan – was sensible. But if Smith was correct, then monetary policy in the wake of Lehman’s bust was a case of the hair of the dog.”

    \\

    “It is the highest impertinence and presumption… in kings and ministers, to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense… They are themselves always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society. Let them look well after their own expense, and they may safely trust private people with theirs. If their own extravagance does not ruin the state, that of their subjects never will.” – Adam Smith, The Wealth Of Nations, Book II, Chapter III, p.346, para. 36.

    “Every individual… neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it… he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.” – Adam Smith, The Wealth Of Nations, Book IV, Chapter II, p. 456, para. 9.

    2. The position of Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve was that the real-estate bubble was caused by lax regulation rather than his predecessor Alan Greenspan’s easy money.

      What a crock of cr@p. The much vaunted Glass Steagall act was passed in 1933 and ran to 12 pages. I challenge anyone to read even the first page or two and summarize it in their own words. Since then the number of bank regulations has grown exponentially. How many of these “lax regulation” types have even held in their hands a print copy of Title 12 (Banks and Banking) of the Code of Federal Regulations, let alone tried to read any of it?

      If this were true, then taking short-term rates down to their lowest level in history – to zero in the United States and negative in Europe and Japan – was sensible.

      No, it still wouldn’t have been sensible.

    3. Newton’s second law of physics holds that what goes up must come down

      I think that’s Newton’s Law of the South Sea Bubble.

  14. DJIA 40338.88 -1.23%
    S&P 500 5469.83 -0.95%
    Nasdaq 17349.55 -1.42%
    VIX 17.90 9.41%
    U.S. 10 Yr 3.994 -0.041%
    Crude Oil 77.09.-1.05%
    Gold 2490.20 0.70%
    Bitcoin 62930.58 -3.54%

    Economy & Politics
    Economic Report
    ECONOMIC REPORT
    Jobless claims jump to nearly one-year high of 249,000 — but it’s not as bad as it looks
    Hurricane Beryl and auto-plant shutdowns played roles
    By Jeffry Bartash
    Last Updated: Aug. 1, 2024 at 9:22 a.m. ET
    First Published: Aug. 1, 2024 at 8:38 a.m. ET
    …
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-jump-to-nearly-one-high-of-249-000-but-its-not-as-bad-as-it-looks-0b16ff15

    1. “Gold 2490.20 0.70%
      Bitcoin 62930.58 -3.54%”

      It’s funny how the bad jobs number hammered the electronic tulips price.

      1. Might have something to do with our gov announcing it would dump its crypto stash (stuff they’ve confiscated from crooks).

        1. It’s going to be comedy gold when all the crypto bros figure out at roughly the same time that the supply of Greater Fools has dried up, and the stampede for the exits turns to blind panic, especially for the baggies who levered up on debt to “invest” in scam digital gambling tokens with an intrinsic value of zero.

          1. It won’t be comedy gold because the crypto market is now big enough to trigger a greater financial contagion. And in the upside down dumpster fire clown world in which we live….the government will step in with a bail out. The joke always ends up being on us.

          3. Anything and everything that threatens the banking system will be bailed out. This is the #1 most invioble rule of economics.

        2. If I was a Dem politician no longer getting massive donations from SBF, I would dump my crypto too.

      1. Sinking Treasury yields signal growing jitters about `everything’ ahead of Friday jobs report
        Benchmark 10-year Treasury yield breaks below 4% for first time since Feb. 2 during New York trading
        By Vivien Lou Chen
        Published: Aug. 1, 2024 at 11:41 a.m. ET
        Recruiters speak to job seekers at a fair in Florida in June. July’s nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled for release before markets open on Friday.
        Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
        Referenced Symbols
        TMUBMUSD01Y 4.689%
        TMUBMUSD02Y 4.195%
        TMUBMUSD10Y 3.985%
        TMUBMUSD30Y 4.273%

        Yields on U.S. government debt continued to sink on Thursday in a sign of the bond market’s growing nervousness about the overall strength of the economy ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for July.

        The benchmark 10-year rate fell below 4% on an intraday basis for the first time since Feb. 2 after Thursday’s batch of data, which included weak manufacturing-sector activity for July and weekly jobless claims that jumped to an almost one-year high. Traders were also looking ahead to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report and the likelihood that it will show continued softness in the labor market.

        When inflation is low and stable, Treasury yields are often seen as a sign of the bond-market’s sentiment about the economic outlook, with higher rates on government debt reflecting growing optimism. However, yields have been plunging since late April as the result of a monthslong rally in government debt and a rising conviction that the Federal Reserve needs to start cutting interest rates from current levels of between 5.25% and 5.5%.

        Thursday’s plunge in yields is the result of “everything” going on in the economy right now, including a relatively weak manufacturing report from the Institute for Supply Management and initial jobless-benefit claims that came in higher than expected, according to Tom Graff, chief investment officer at Baltimore-based Facet, which oversees about $2.5 billion in assets.

        In his view, the drop in yields is a reflection of “nervousness, not panic.” The bond market is saying “not only is inflation coming down, which was already priced in, but that there might be some real economic weakness and that’s a change in narrative,” Graff said via phone on Thursday. “And that’s why we’re seeing rates drop in the long end. My take would be that it will take quite a material slowdown to get the 10-year yield down to 3.5%,” though it’s still possible.
        …
        https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sinking-treasury-yields-signal-growing-jitters-about-everything-ahead-of-friday-jobs-report-a1e43335

  16. Woke Olympics: Woman Beating Now a Spectator Sport

    ‘I Have Never Been Hit So Hard in My Life’: Italian Female Boxer Lasts Just 46 Seconds Against Fighter Who Failed Gender Test

    Simon Kent
    1 Aug 2024

    Forty-six seconds. That was the sum total of time a female Italian boxer lasted in the ring at the Paris Olympics before she retired from a bout against an Algerian fighter caught in an eligibility furore.

    Twenty-five-year-old Imane Khelif was cleared to compete at the 2024 Olympics, even after being disqualified from the International Boxing Association (IBA) 2023 World Boxing Championships for failing gender-eligibility tests, according to Fox News. The International Olympic Committee, which uses different criteria to determine eligibility, ruled Khelif eligible to compete.

    The contest Thursday between the mismatched pugilists shone fresh light on the controversy about athletes with abnormally high testosterone levels or other male characteristics being allowed to enter women’s sporting categories.

    https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2024/08/01/i-have-never-been-hit-so-hard-in-my-life-italian-female-boxer-lasts-just-46-seconds-against-fighter-who-failed-gender-test/

    1. That abomination who did this to a biological female belongs in the ring with a man. Break his jaw, shatter his cheekbones, cave his whole f*ing head in.

      1. I saw a headline claiming that Olympic TV ratings are up vs. Tokyo. I think it’s more gaslighting.

      2. That abomination who did this to a biological female belongs in the ring with a man.
        Men have absolutely no business in the ring with woman.
        I told my brother, a true LIB in all ways, that if men were allowed to play woman’s BB 20 years ago, his daughter would have sat on the bench in HS, at best, and never played college BB. He totally disagreed with me. okay.

    3. And IIUC, this wasn’t the gold medal match. So that means he gets to beat up all the other women in his bracket too.

    4. What really got to me was right after the match, when the woman was crying in the ring, and the guy goes up to her and pats her on the back, as if to say “there there girly, don’t fret.”

      Bastard. Try your bullsh!t in the ring with the other MEN where you belong. They’ll take your head off.

      1. I only punched a girl once in my life. It was my older sister, a foot taller than me. She loved to poke me in the ribs with her pointy nailed index finger. It hurt. One day she got me good and I told her calmly not to ever do that again.

        I turned away and she did it again as hard as she could. I hit her on the chin and she staggered backwards about ten feet into her room landing on her fancy princess four poster bed. She was screaming.

        Then my dad walked down the hall. My towering Gunny Sargent dad. “Did you hit your sister?” “Yes Sir” I said “And I hope I never have to do it again!” I expected a horrible consequence but he turned right around and walked back down the hall towards the kitchen. I thought I heard a stifled chuckle before he turned the corner.

        Men boxing women is the end of women’s sports.

  17. Biden said he is going to spend the last three months of his Presidency getting a 75% majority vote to dismantle the Supreme Court. This is not obtainable, but it makes for bogus talking points for the Harris platform of abortion freedom, etc etc.
    I predict Harris platform will be saving democracy and freedom, when its really the One World Order Agenda.
    The government should pay for child care, Abortion rights and transgender rights, border invasion, wars, Climate Change Green new deal fraud, banks and AI takeover, inflation, transfer of power by Treaty to UN /WHO to override Constitutional protection, tax dollars looting to One World Order beneficiaries, small business attack, mandated vaccines, forced diet, racism and equality by retribution of wealth, etc, etc etc.

    And now take down of Supreme Court because this Harris/Biden Administration didn’t like some of the recent ruling by High Court.

    IMHO, all a diversion from the treasonous take down of the USA, under the nonsensical claim of saving democracy.
    But fake One Word Order news will market Harris like they marketed the expiermental fake killer Covid vaccines, with censorship of dispute.

    Harris is One World Order fake puppet, its as simple as that.

    1. The “conspiracy theory” called the Great Replacement is playing out right in front of us.

      1. With the full support of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti Defamation League.

        #Naming
        #Noticing

  19. “Newton’s second law of physics holds that what goes up must come down”

    Actually that’s Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation. Although, one could argue that the law of gravitation is an *example* of Newton’s second law, replacing the F with a G.

  20. A reader sent these in:

    Construction job openings starting to blow out, this is what I have been waiting for as residential construction cycle contracts

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1818329356231671874

    It’s not just hotels struggling. STRs on Maui are not doing well. 👇🏼

    I wonder how they’re paying their mortgages?

    https://x.com/MauiBoyMacro/status/1818354308188193253

    I wouldn’t be long Auto Manufacturers, Residential Real Estate or Appliance Manufacturers right now. 👇🏼

    Or really anything else…

    https://x.com/MauiBoyMacro/status/1818325234338193899

    Intel plans to layoff up to 10,000 employees

    https://x.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1818396697074254322

    From a large dealer:

    “Book values are tanking in August.

    I just looked at a Jeep Wrangler that is losing $2100 on August 1st.

    Almost every car I’ve looked at today is losing $500 or more.”

    Be careful what you buy right now… Don’t want to catch a falling knife.

    https://x.com/GuyDealership/status/1818282781031723161

    Someone posted on an Airbnb FB group I’m in asking how much everyone was making on their properties now.
    Most people responded saying they were lucky to be breaking even this year. Market is saturated, costs have increased – demand has decreased. Uh oh.

    https://x.com/realmatt_re/status/1818348382353866918

    Millions of homeowners seem to be convinced that they’re going to be able to sell the to 5-6% of the US population that can afford a median home who don’t already own.

    That turns out exactly like you think it does.

    https://x.com/VladTheInflator/status/1818344998167011751

    Meanwhile in Canada… (already cut 2x25bps)

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1818706198528729218

    Subprime auto loan delinquencies soared last month 📈

    +16% year-over-year
    +53% compared to 2019 (!)

    https://x.com/GuyDealership/status/1818738760743632999

    Private sector hiring slowed sharply in June

    Maybe we can all work for Parks & Rec

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1818843997424742530

    Bit of a fixer upper on 80 acres

    https://x.com/VladTheInflator/status/1818848039110689274

    Larger house down the street on a larger lot listed for $670k

    Its worth MAYBE $600k if they get out soon
    $500k 2025
    $400k 2026

    https://x.com/VladTheInflator/status/1818842858763452683

    The same realtors that told people in Austin to lower their standards and pay over asking for houses in 2022 are telling families to buy now before interest rates fall because prices will go up.

    https://x.com/VladTheInflator/status/1818829721091948913

    People are starting to send me “I’m going through tough times” realtors posts.

    Its hilarious to me that having to get a real job again is “going through tough times” hahahaha

    Like bro, how bad can being an Applebees server again be?

    https://x.com/VladTheInflator/status/1818670637151666639

    I have a buddy who owns a gym and notices instructors return when the real estate market slows down. When real estate is booming, they disappear. He always joked about this being his market indicator.

    https://x.com/_SleuthSlayer_/status/1818688448544620961

    Hey bro, we heard you like long dated charts, so we set you up with a 135+ year history of housing prices adjusted for inflation:

    https://x.com/RFitz8990/status/1818844438279733748

    Can’t buy from someone in pink pants.

    There’s a finance rule about that somewhere.

    https://x.com/LynAldenContact/status/1818811731591700571

    Job openings continue on their downward trend after peaking in Mar ’22 and now significantly below the pre-pandemic trend; what makes this worse is the types of job openings left are increasingly in gov’t, or gov’t-funded industries, or low-wage jobs; the labor market is turning:

    https://x.com/RealEJAntoni/status/1818617006943347142

    Mortgages owned by the Fed is basically price fixing.

    https://x.com/SE300Factory/status/1818801792517603703

    If the housing market is a bonfire.

    MILLIONS of nonprofitable AirBnBs will be gasoline.

    https://x.com/VladTheInflator/status/1818693705848832049

    The last 5 years has literally turned my neighborhood upside down, filled with relocated, retired boomers and AirBnBs, all bought at peak.

    We are one of three young families within four blocks of this neighborhood.

    Bring the fire. I am ready.

    https://x.com/Narddog4747/status/1818695691578847550

    I’m waiting patiently, from New Zealand…our market/median home prices have fallen 5 months in a row…this is just the beginning 👌 maybe just maybe I could buy a FAMILY home

    https://x.com/NZSIMONMID/status/1818822987845713990

    1. Be careful what you buy right now… Don’t want to catch a falling knife.

      All cars depreciate, so all are falling knives.

    2. Its hilarious to me that having to get a real job again is “going through tough times” hahahaha

      Like bro, how bad can being an Applebees server again be?

      Well, all those realtors will have to return the Lexus. Making tons of money without having to do any real work must be fun. while it lasts.

      1. Making tons of money without having to do any real work must be fun.
        I have had several of those jobs over the years and they are fun, (lots of company parties) and lucrative,(nice bonuses) but most only last 2-3 years until something happens and the company/job disappears.

    3. Intel plans to layoff up to 10,000 employees

      That’s been revised to 15%, roughly 17.5K.

      1. Intel seems to have gone down the Boeing path. Some of their CPUs are said to be junk that breaks. AMD is clobbering them.

  21. As a homeless man in Portland, Tru uses one thing to get by: a methamphetamine pipe. Inside the glass bubble are dark brown swirls — the signs of impurities in the drug, he explained. On Wednesday morning, Tru was smoking meth along the Eastbank Esplanade without fear of being caught by Portland police.

    “I’m not too worried about it, to be honest with you,” he said.

    That’s because at the moment, possession of small amounts of hard drugs is not a crime in Oregon. But starting Sept. 1, that’s going to change; simple possession will become a misdemeanor, but people who are caught for possession alone, and no other criminal offenses, will be given the option of accepting treatment rather than being sent to jail — a process referred to as “deflection.”

    Tru sounded skeptical about the plan, declaring that it won’t help anyone get into treatment faster.

    “I would rather do jail, to be brutally honest, because treatment is — most treatment facilities aren’t worth it,” he said.

    Multnomah County officials hope to prove him wrong, or at least to show that others may be more willing to give deflection a shot.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/i-understand-the-frustration-officials-respond-to-community-complaints-about-multnomah-county-s-drug-deflection-center/ar-BB1qZGUT

  22. Targeted sweeps of homeless encampments took place across San Francisco on Wednesday, as Mayor London Breed seeks to fulfill a pledge to step up enforcement.

    When 8 a.m. arrived, the two blocks of Willow Street in the Tenderloin were lined with several dozen people and maybe 15 or so tents. But, by everyone’s account there were more people here the day before, only many of them decided to move on once word spread of what was coming.

    “That DPW is coming to take all your stuff tomorrow,” said Steve, who had been camped on the alleyway. “That’s all I’ve heard.”

    The likelihood of someone accepting the offer, depends largely on what is being offered.

    “Depends on what it is,” Steve said. “Because a lot of them are like jails. You know, you can’t have any visitors. You can’t have anything. They search your bags every time you come in. It’s just like being in jail.”

    One requirement is that shelter is offered and that has the city working, almost hour by hour, to determine exactly how many spaces of what variety are available throughout the city system.

    “We try to make a plan, try to make sure we have enough of what we need,” explained Jose Torres, a project manager with San Francisco’s Homeless Outreach Team. “But sometimes it’s just the system is so saturated. Right now, it’s the end of the month. So people are happy staying inside. It changes when people get money and they go outside and back again, that kind of thing. Does the trend have to be mindful of as well.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/targeted-sweeps-of-homeless-encampments-underway-across-san-francisco/ar-BB1qZjlZ

    So the guberment is paying these people monthly.

    1. “Depends on what it is,” Steve said. “Because a lot of them are like jails. You know, you can’t have any visitors. You can’t have anything. They search your bags every time you come in. It’s just like being in jail.”

      Except for the part where you can come and go as you please.

    2. it’s the end of the month

      I vaguely heard that the welfare crowd goes to WalMart at 11 pm on the last of the month, fills up their carts, and heads to checkout at 1 minute after midnight, when their EBT cards get their monthly re-up.

      So it’s been a sort of bucket list thing for me to go to a Walmart at 11 pm on the last of the month, just to observe the spectacle. Problem is, no Wal-Marts in my area are open 24/7. They used to be, but they stopped that for obvious reasons.

      Maybe I could try a 24/7 CVS?

  23. The Conservative party released two new ads this week attacking NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh as a “sellout,” blaming him for a national rise in crime, housing prices and costly living.

    The ads, which come as the Tories try to steal a Manitoba seat from the NDP, question why Singh is keeping Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in power at a time when national opinion polls show the Liberal minority government remains unpopular with Canadians.

    The New Democrats signed a political pact with the Liberals in 2022 to secure their support on key votes in the House of Commons, in exchange for progress on shared priorities like pharmacare and dental care.

    Conservatives suggest Singh is maintaining the deal to secure his MP pension, which he will qualify for in October 2025, when the next federal election is scheduled.

    The ads feature real photos of Singh wearing a luxury watch, carrying a Versace tote and driving a BMW.

    The tag line: “Sellout Singh. He gets his pension, you pay the price.”

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-conservatives-launch-attack-ads-on-ndp-calling-leader-sellout-singh/

  24. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer has fought back against death threats, almost constant harassment and streams of misinformation during his nearly four years overseeing elections in one of the nation’s most prominent political battlegrounds.

    He couldn’t survive his reelection bid. The Republican who relentlessly defended the legitimacy of Arizona’s elections lost his primary race this week in a vote that could significantly influence the way elections are run in one of the nation’s most-watched counties.

    Richer lost to Justin Heap, a state legislator who has questioned certain aspects of how elections are run, in a three-way GOP primary that ended Tuesday. While Richer will remain in office through the November election, his exit early next year will signal the end of a term wracked by controversy. His office, which splits election duties with the county board of supervisors, has had to fend off attacks over the results of the 2020 presidential election, as former President Donald Trump and his allies falsely claimed that widespread fraud had cost him the race.

    The outcry from a vocal and determined group of Republican lawmakers, local officials and grassroots activists spiraled into protests and threats that ultimately energized the campaign for his ouster.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-primary-voters-in-arizonas-largest-county-oust-election-official-who-endured-years-of-attacks/ar-BB1qZahn

    1. Another RINO bites the dust. Hopefully (for him) he was careful when he laundered all the padded envelopes that came his way,

  26. What will happen after Trump’s largest deportation operation in American history?

    Research Report: Impact of Mass Deportations on Real Estate and Apartment Rental Prices
    Introduction
    This report examines the effects of mass deportations on real estate and apartment rental prices, focusing on the deportation policies under the Obama administration and the Eisenhower administration. The analysis synthesizes key points from various sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of the economic and housing market implications of large-scale deportations.
    Impact of Deportations on Housing Markets

    Reduction in Housing Demand and Foreclosures Mass deportations can lead to a significant reduction in housing demand, particularly in areas with high populations of undocumented immigrants. When individuals are deported, their households often lose critical income streams, which can result in home sales or foreclosures. This was notably observed during the Great Recession, where deportations exacerbated foreclosure rates among Latino communities, with some counties experiencing nearly 70 percent higher foreclosure rates compared to similar counties

    .
    Economic Ripple Effects The deportation of undocumented immigrants can have broader economic ripple effects that impact the housing market. For instance, in California, mass deportations are expected to harm the housing market by reducing the number of potential homebuyers and renters, thereby increasing the risk of foreclosures and putting landlords in difficult positions
    .
    Labor Shortages in Construction Deportations also affect the supply side of the housing market by reducing the labor force available for construction. A recent study highlighted that deporting undocumented migrants diminishes the supply of workers needed for housing construction, leading to a reduction in residential homebuilding and an increase in home prices due to higher construction costs
    .
    Net Increase in Housing Prices While deportations can reduce demand for housing, the reduction in supply due to fewer construction workers often outweighs this effect, leading to a net increase in housing prices. This is because the decreased availability of workers increases construction costs, thereby reducing the overall housing output
    .
    Community and Economic Stability Immigrants contribute significantly to the stability and vitality of communities. Their presence can help stabilize vulnerable segments of metropolitan areas, making them more viable for a broader population. The loss of immigrant populations due to deportations can therefore destabilize these communities and negatively impact local housing markets
    .
    Long-term Economic Impact Over the long term, consistent high levels of deportations can slowly erode the economy and housing market. This is particularly relevant in states like California, where the economy is closely tied to the contributions of immigrant populations

    .

    Conclusion
    The mass deportations under the Obama and Eisenhower administrations had significant impacts on real estate and apartment rental prices. The immediate effects included increased foreclosure rates and reduced housing demand. However, the long-term consequences were more complex, involving labor shortages in construction, increased housing prices, and destabilized communities. These findings underscore the intricate relationship between immigration policies and housing market dynamics, highlighting the need for a balanced approach to immigration enforcement that considers economic and social implications.
    References

    Mass deportations will harm the housing market, First Tuesday Journal, 2017-02-28

    How Immigration Restrictions Reduce Housing Construction and Exacerbate Shortages, Reason, 2024-05-02
    Immigration, Housing Markets, and Community Vitality, Cato Journal, 2017-09-13
    Is the housing crisis largely due to immigration?, Reddit,
    What happens to your house when you get deported?, Marketplace, 2017-08-10

    1. Mass deportations will hurt every market. That’s what happens when the gov stops printing a UBI for them to spent. I predict the Modelo market will be hurt the worst.

        1. I’ve seen the Modelo cans in my neighborhood recycle bins, also some Corona bottles with a little El Presidente. Everyone here is generally Central American, with some Peru and Brazil.

          1. Modelo is Mexican. No self respecting central American would drink it. I’d say that it’s a sign you have Mexicans in your hood.

            You have to understand the hatred central Americans have for Mexicans. For them, Mexico is the wealthy colossus to the north. I’ve met Guatemalans who even say that Mexico is an evil imperialist.

    1. Business / Economy
      The Fed is about to do something it hasn’t done since the pandemic
      By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN
      Published 5:30 AM EDT, Thu August 1, 2024
      Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images
      Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said a September rate cut could be “on the table”

      New York CNN —

      People are getting impatient with the Federal Reserve.

      For the past year, the Fed has kept interest rates at their highest level in more than two decades, making it more expensive to get a mortgage, borrow money and pay off debt. Now the central bank is mulling over when to do something it hasn’t done since the darkest days of the pandemic: cut interest rates.

      But Wednesday’s decision by the Fed to once again leave rates unchanged provided little comfort. But the wait could finally end at the Fed’s next policy meeting in September.
      …
      https://cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/01/economy/fed-rate-cut-when

      1. The Bank of England just lowered interest rates, though very little. I expect the Fed will follow suit.

    2. DOW 40,347.97 -1.21%
      S&P 500 5,446.68 -1.37%
      NASDAQ 17,194.15 -2.30%

      Fear & Greed Index
      Business / Economy
      Why the stock market is suddenly freaking out
      Analysis by David Goldman, CNN
      2 minute read
      Updated 4:03 PM EDT, Thu August 1, 2024
      A bank of television screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on July 31.
      Richard Drew/AP

      CNN —

      The narrative on Wall Street is shifting.

      Traders have long placed their bets on the Federal Reserve cutting rates in September, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell basically confirmed as much Wednesday.

      That rate cut, expected in six weeks, was priced in to stocks, which have been rising over the past few months in hopes of a cut. Rate cuts tend to juice stocks, because they lower borrowing costs for businesses and can help boost profits.

      But now, fear is starting to take hold, as concerns mount that the Fed may not be acting quickly enough to keep America’s job market in good shape.

      Powell warned Wednesday that cracks are starting to form in the labor market.

      Wall Street is looking for signs that the job market is staying strong, supporting a soft landing for the economy where inflation cools without triggering a recession.

      On Thursday, the stock market underwent a bit of a reset, with the Dow falling more than 600 points as America may be entering a new phase of the economy — a slowdown in hiring. The broader S&P 500 tumbled 1.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped a stunning 2.5%.
      …
      https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/01/economy/why-dow-down-stock-market/index.html

      1. “…the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped a stunning 2.5%.”

        Is that really that big of a drop? How much did the Nasdaq go up on its latest run?

          1. And the same small magnitude of change that led to cheers of joy and congratulations yesterday led to massive consternation today when it went in the opposite direction.

      2. Stock Market Today: Stocks tumble on growth worries as Treasury yields plummet
        Stocks kicked-off August trading with one of the biggest single-day declines of the year.
        Martin Baccardax
        Updated: Aug 1, 2024 4:11 PM EDT

        U.S. stocks closed firmly lower Thursday amid one of the biggest bond market rallies of the year, as investors grow increasingly worried that the Federal Reserve may have waited too long to ease its key lending rate and increased the risk of recession.

        The S&P 500 ended 76 points lower, or 1.37%, with the tech-focused Nasdaq leading major index declines with a slump of 405 points, or 2.3%. The gave back nearly 500 points by the close of the session.

        Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields fell 9 basis points to 3.969%, dipping under the 4% threshold for the first time since February, while 2-year notes hit a six-month low of 4.177%.
        …
        https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/stock-market-today-stocks-get-fed-boost-apple-and-amazon-on-deck

  29. ‘They want a special assessment.’ The words now so common at so many condos like Tara West in Fort Lauderdale, where residents say the board first doubled the monthly maintenance fee. Vicki LaRue: ‘From $459 to $920.’ And then came the crushing special assessment. Vicki LaRue: ‘They want $8,158 from each unit.’ So many South Florida condo owners just cannot afford these large special assessments. Jeanette Delegram: ‘OK. I have Stage 4 cancer, and so, I’m back working again in order to pay all this. They don’t care’

    It’s a stupid urban living commie set up that fooks you at the worst time Jeanette. There are millions of you in this situation right now just in Florida.

  30. ‘If it feels like homeowners’ insurance premiums have gone through the roof, and in some cases look more like mortgage payments, it’s probably not your imagination’

    That has sound lending written all over it.

    ‘Destructive weather is part of living in North Texas. Melinda Clifton has seen hail damage her roof three times in two decades. After each storm, homeowners’ insurance paid her claims to replace it. But not long after her most recent claim, she received a bill that hit like a hurricane. Last year, Clifton said her annual homeowner’s policy cost $2,600. The following year, she said the cost more than tripled to $8,800. Clifton’s policy is paid through her home escrow account, meaning the monthly insurance payments are added to her mortgage payment. Clifton said her payments went up by hundreds of dollars per month, and she questioned whether she could afford to stay in her home. ‘I’ve thought, ‘Am I going to have to sell my home? The home I raised my children in’

    Here’s the thing Melinda. In all those years of raising yer rug rats, the price of yer shack went to the moon Alice! So yer insurance now reflects replacement costs, meaning the lender doesn’t get screwed and you are on the hook for their CYA even if you ain’t got it!

  31. ‘In the case of multifamily investment sales in Texas, it’s been clear for some time that the market is in a much different place than it was in late 2021 and early 2022. ‘The deals that aren’t moving are those that are maybe 80 percent levered, in which the owner didn’t do capital expenditures and paid debt service instead of doing renovations with that money — those deals are now below their debt basis’

    Mike is not mentioning that the lender is supposed to audit this maintenance as an agreement to the loan, if it’s of any size. But you only live once !

    ‘Some buyers are taking on dumpster-fire deals and turning them around, but the juice may not be worth the squeeze in terms of how much they’re offering and how much time and effort it will take to turn some of these deals around,’ Becker continues. ‘Austin in particular is oversupplied, and you can acquire those assets well below replacement cost’

    Such a difference from minor respiratory illness when any Austin dog was overnight riches. I hope no one overpaid in such an environment!

    ‘With broader market uncertainty comes a reluctance to transact, which can be a contagious feeling. The alternative is for owners to accept that the days of obscenely cheap debt are over, recognize that market parameters have shifted and get back to business. Acknowledge that value destruction has occurred and that some deals are dead where they stand. Resign to the reality that some return thresholds are not going to be met, and that some sales may result in losses. Embrace the downturn, rip off the Band-Aid and begin looking to the future rather than the past. This is much easier said than done, of course, especially when it’s not your money at stake. But it’s an approach that some brokers can endorse’

    Yer right UHS. Make it sound mournful. You feel their pain. Now are you ready to take yer a$$ pounding and unload this POS?

  32. ‘Those who bought units as retirement nest eggs and can no longer can rent them out short term cry foul. ‘I’m just really shocked that in Canada, in British Columbia, you can make an investment in your community and in your future for your family and it can be ripped away like this,’ said 62-year-old Suzanne Little, who says she has had to delay her retirement plans indefinitely as the income from her property is suddenly no longer available’

    Just yesterday I mentioned there were still plenty of K-dns who think an igloo is a money tree.

  33. ‘There’s a gap between what sellers want and what buyers are willing to pay…But it’s the width of the divide that is unusual…So, what is driving cottage sales right now? The simple answer is a well-priced listing. ‘If you’re priced higher than the market, it’s going to sit there. On the other hand, if you price competitively, it sells…All it takes is one or two sellers to accept a fairly low price for a property, then that becomes the new benchmark,’ he says. ‘That’s the comparable and that’s what buyers will zero in on’

    So what yer saying Dave is it’s a race to the bottom with everybody chasing the market down, and yer clients should undercut the other bashtards and set an even lower comp.

  34. ‘When the ABC visited the site yesterday, several wooden door panels of Ms Lee’s house were rotten, the flooring inside the house had turned green in colour and rubbish was scattered throughout. ‘I truly hope that they feel the pain that we have been feeling now that they’re not allowed to build anymore and that they can see what we have been going through not having our houses completed,’ she said. Ms Lee said she plans to sell her home when it’s finally completed or is even considering ‘knocking it down and starting over again.’ ‘I actually stopped driving past because it was just so depressing, so depressing,’ she said. ‘When you’ve got something with all of your life savings and nothing going forward, you’re losing out daily’

    It’s still way cheaper than renting Jen.

    1. MarketWatch.com
      Opinion: Stock market bulls are dangerously close to losing control to the bears
      Published: Aug. 1, 2024 at 1:37 p.m. ET
      By Lawrence G. McMillan
      S&P 500’s critical support is 5,370

      The S&P 500 Index SPX (SPX) turned down in mid-July, establishing a short-term series of lower highs and lower lows. That set up a bearish scenario, but the bulls have fought back with a monster one-day rally surrounding the FOMC meeting, which culminated on Wednesday.

      If SPX can close above 5,585, that would negate the bearish pattern and potentially set up the way to new all-time highs. However, if this resurgence by the bulls proves to be nothing more than an oversold rally, then we will
      …

    2. Yahoo
      Business Insider
      Stocks are looking ‘eerily similar’ to the last bear-market crash, Charles Schwab says
      Filip De Mott
      Tue, Jun 25, 2024
      2 min read
      Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on October 20, 2023.
      Spencer Platt/Getty Images

      – Market dynamics mirror 2021, potentially signaling a bear market on the way, Charles Schwab said.

      – There’s a growing divergence between index-level and individual stock performance

      – The number of individual stocks reaching new highs is falling, despite the market’s bull run.

      Current stock market dimensions are starting to mirror 2021, a year that preceded the most recent bear market correction, Charles Schwab wrote this week.

      In its latest commentary, the bank took aim at the growing misalignment between index-level and individual stock performance. The growing divergence has only become more extreme, and is a risk worth monitoring, CIO Liz Ann Sonders wrote.

      “If we continue to see more weakness in the former and strength in the latter, it will start to eerily mimic 2021’s dynamic,” she wrote.

      While the S&P 500 has enjoyed a streak of record highs throughout this year, the percentage of individual stocks that are trading above their 50-day moving average has dwindled, she noted.

      “That was the case in the second half of 2021 which, with the benefit of hindsight, correctly signaled that the market would no longer be able to hold up at the index level—thus leading to the bear market in 2022,” Ann Sonders said.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-looking-eerily-similar-last-021413181.html

    3. Stock markets
      US investors trigger major Wall Street sell-off over recession fears

      Cooling job market, slowing manufacturing and tumbling stock market lead to big tech sell-offs
      Lauren Aratani and Reuters
      Thu 1 Aug 2024 16.31 EDT
      Last modified on Thu 1 Aug 2024 17.44 EDT

      US investors triggered a major sell-off on Wall Street on Thursday set off by fears that the job market is cooling, manufacturing is slowing and the Federal Reserve has left cutting interests too late to head off a recession.

      The Dow Jones fell nearly 500 points (1.2%), while the S&P 500 was also down 1.3%. A series of disappointing results from tech companies have led to sell-offs in big tech.

      After a rally on Wednesday following Meta’s second-quarter earnings results, which were better than expected, the tech-heavy Nasdaq’s index was down 2.3%. The bad news continued after markets closed with Intel announcing 15,000 layoffs and Amazon releasing disappointing results.

      Two economic data points released on Thursday appeared to spook investors. One measurement of manufacturing activity by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) hit an eight-month low in July, while the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits hit an 11-month high last week, according to data released on Thursday.
      …
      https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/01/investors-trigger-major-wall-street-sell-off-recession

    5. Do you have the feeling that now might be a good time to liquidate your risk asset HODLings and hide the proceeds under your mattress?

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