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The Prices Haven’t Really Come Down, Except For When Houses Are On The Market For Months

A report from the Columbia Basin Herald in Washington. “The real estate market is evening out in Quincy, according to real estate agent Tom Parrish. The median price of a home in Quincy is $412,000, a little higher than the $394,900 average for Grant County. Most homes for sale in Quincy are in the Paradise Park and Jackrabbit Estates developments, either recently built or under construction. ‘If you’re looking at a $400,000-$500,000 home, and look at the income that is required, even with a two-household income, that can create (problems), because the lender is looking at debt-to-income ratios,’ Parrish said. ‘So, depending on any individual buyers … your payment per month, unless you’re putting down a pretty good down, is going to be pretty hefty. $3,000-a-month payments is not unusual, unless you’re putting down 20-30% down. Then that issue becomes, do people actually have that kind of money?'”

“Down payments are one area where Quincy is doing well, according to figures from ATTOM. According to a recent report, the median down payment in the United States was $64,000 in June 2024, the last month for which data were available. The median in Washington was a jaw-dropping $130,000. In the Quincy market, however, the median down payment is just over half what it was a year earlier, $26,000 compared to $49,050 in July 2023.”

The Brunswick News in Georgia. “There was a time a few years ago when Realtors like Sandra Branch of Signature Properties were navigating bidding wars on houses they listed. The inventory of homes for sale in the Golden Isles was low and borrowing money was cheap as interest rates were historically low. ‘2021 was crazy,’ said Branch. ‘That’s when we would have multiple offers all the time, and some people offering more than asking price.’ Three years later, the heat has cooled, but only a little. The Golden Isles housing market is still strong, Branch said, stronger than most other places in the state. ‘We’re not seeing the multiple offers much anymore,’ Branch said. Branch said homes that stay on the market longer are where people are starting to see prices drop, but only slightly. ‘The prices haven’t really come down, except for when houses are on the market for months,’ Branch said. ‘Even then, they are seeing small reductions.'”

12 News in Florida. “The Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) is warning of the dangers of traveling criminals after a multi-state manhunt that ended in Jensen Beach. MCSO arrested Justin Najdawi, 33, who they say made his way through Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida while attempting to evade a criminal warrant for sexual assault and possession of child pornography. MCSO learned that Najdawi was staying in a vacation rental on northeast Marguerite Street, which is near downtown Jensen Beach. Neighbors in the area tell CBS12 News the rental was an Airbnb. Sheriff Snyder says this case should serve as a warning for those renting out their properties.”

“Jensen Beach resident, Eva Digioia has lived in the neighborhood Najdawi was staying at for years. She says several of her neighbors are turning their properties into Airbnb’s. ‘Right on this one block with eight houses, there’s three Airbnb’s,’ she said. She added hearing about Najdawi’s arrest makes her nervous about the several rental properties surrounding her, saying, ‘now, I’ll be looking around before I come home or whatever, now that you know that this can happen.'”

Your Life Choices. “Airbnbs and similar peer-to-peer booking systems burst onto the scene in 2008 to connect property owners with travellers seeking a cheap alternative to traditional accommodation. Along the way, the brand became a bit tarnished. Whole properties – especially in popular tourism centres – were given over to the platform. Even the people at the top agreed it had lost its way. ‘It wasn’t about empty homes, it was about people staying with each other,’ chief executive and founder Brian Chesky told travel news site Skift. The values got ‘watered down,’ he added. ‘If I could do it over again, I would hold onto those values.’ Then there was the price gouging. Customers were selecting their accommodation, only to find a series of fees when they got to the last booking page including, in some cases, cleaning ‘fees’ of up to $400. I think I speak for many people when I say I don’t want to spend the last day of my holiday cleaning up a property I have already paid for.”

KVUE in Texas. “When it comes to searching for the perfect place to call home, Austin might just be the place – for renters. This analysis compared 10 major U.S. metros, placing Austin at No. 1. As of July, Austin’s starter homes cost roughly $3,588 monthly versus rental prices at $1,468. This means Austinites saved more than $2,100 when renting compared to buying their first house. While Austin finds itself in first place, it’s not the only U.S. city where renters get more for their money. Coming in second is Seattle, followed by Los Angeles, Nashville, Phoenix, Columbus, Dallas, San Francisco, New York and Boston. Of those, Dallas is the only other Texas metro on the list, with an average purchasing price of $2,788 per month versus a rental price of roughly $1,481.”

Palo Alto Online in California. “Palo Alto, Los Altos and Menlo Park, in particular, are starting to see even more homes hit the market as the busier-than-normal summer winds down. Palo Alto, in particular, witnessed a nearly 40% increase in listings compared to last summer. In Palo Alto, the high-end market also has shown considerable activity, with listings priced over $7 million increasing by 40% and actual sales rising by 38%. It’s worth noting, however, that half of these 18 sales involved properties that had been intermittently on the market for several years, some dating back as far as five years and ultimately selling at prices well below the sellers’ initial expectations. A 90-year-old home on a sprawling 20,000-square-foot lot in Professorville, for example, was originally listed for nearly $12 million in May 2019. The price was subsequently reduced to $8.8 million in 2020, reintroduced to the market at $7.8 million in April of this year, and finally sold for $7.2 million to a local family.”

The Epoch Times. “Mike Coffman, the mayor of Aurora, Colorado, has spoken out after video footage was published online allegedly showing Venezuelan gangs taking control of various apartment complexes across the city. He said he believes the gang members allegedly taking over the apartment buildings are Venezuelan, noting that the buildings are also home to a high ‘concentration’ of Venezuelan illegal immigrants. The mayor said he’s also investigating how and why there is such a high concentration of Venezuelans in the three buildings. ‘Somebody placed them there, is it an agency of the federal government, perhaps using some of our local nonprofit partners here as a conduit?’ he said. He later took aim at the federal government. ‘It is my understanding that Venezuela does not share criminal histories with the United States, so it’s very difficult to vet them at the border, yet they’ve been allowed to come in anyway,’ Coffman said.”

CBS Colorado. “Officials in Aurora have begun to acknowledge the presence of Venezuelan gang activity in their Colorado city after the release of a terrifying surveillance video. For Cindy Romero, living at 12th Avenue and Dallas Street has become a daily struggle against escalating violence and neglect. Life deteriorated into a nightmarish ordeal, marked by frequent encounters with crime and what she calls a lack of support from the city and police. She first noticed a gradual increase in crime in her part of the Denver metro area about a year-and-a-half ago. It got worse over the last three months. She reported seeing people move automatic weapons and engage in shootouts. ‘I’ve seen handguns, rifles with scopes, and other firearms. It got so bad that bullets even went through my friend’s apartment and hit my car,’ Romero said.”

“Despite frequent calls to 911, the police response was nearly nonexistent. ‘The police would call me and say they weren’t coming unless it was a severe crime,’ Romero said. ‘When I called the police to report a shooting, one officer asked if I had considered moving. If I could have afforded to leave, I would have.'”

Investigative Journalism Foundation. “The ads are all over Facebook, boasting high ‘targeted’ annual returns for investors in Canadian real estate projects — anywhere from 15 or 17 per cent to more than 30 per cent. These developers and investment companies, based mainly in Ontario or B.C., hint at a chance for regular people to snatch a small piece of the massive profits that have flowed from the country’s real estate market in recent years. ‘Consider a new approach to real estate investing beyond buying a condo,’ one ad reads, offering regular folks an opportunity to ‘become a real estate developer,’ with annual targeted returns of 20 per cent. Another advertises 31-per-cent annual targeted returns, saying the investment provides a route to ‘become a Toronto real estate investor without the hassle of being a landlord.'”

“Questions about the ads for these types of real estate investments come after a long string of problems for another developer claiming high returns on Facebook. In a story first brought to light by the IJF, Vancouver’s Cynterra Group has faced numerous lawsuits from contractors over non-payment of bills for its projects, leading to two arrest warrants for its CEO. There have been legal claims from some unhappy investors as well. Cynterra and its predecessor Evest Funds have marketed investment opportunities in several developments planned for the Okanagan region, the Victoria suburb of Langford and Mexico. To date, just one of those projects has been partially completed, and after a new court filing last month, three are now in foreclosure proceedings.”

“In response, provincial securities regulators say they have tightened disclosure requirements. Investors are also required to sign a form warning them the investment is risky and they could lose all their money. For now, Gail Henderson, a law professor who researches financial regulation at Queen’s University in Ontario. advises anyone thinking of investing through an offering memorandum to approach with extreme caution. ‘Ask yourself, if I lost all of this — the full amount of what I’m putting in — would I still be okay? Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose,’ she said.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “For aspiring buyers in Ontario’s cottage country, the turn to the fall market can bring a change of rhythm. Sellers, who are often in no rush during the halcyon days of summer, become more focused after Labour Day. This year, more lakeside dwellings are sitting on the market compared with past years pick and bidding contests have mostly evaporated against a backdrop of higher interest rates and uncertainty about the economic picture. Buyers have some time to breathe before making a decision. Sales of waterfront properties in July came in 42.9 per cent below the 10-year average for the month, according to the Lakelands Association of Realtors, which covers a wide swath of northern Ontario cottage country. The median price for waterfront properties in July tumbled 23 per cent from the same month last year to stand at $809,000 for Lakelands, which includes portions of such well-known communities as Muskoka, Haliburton, Georgian Bay Townships and Lake of Bays.”

Near Shore Americas. “The repeal of Argentina’s controversial rent control law dramatically reshaped the country’s housing market, leading to a sharp decline in rental prices and a surge in available properties. President Javier Milei overturned the law in December of 2023, which had been introduced by his predecessor, Alberto Fernández. Local media indicate that the supply of rental properties surged by an astonishing 211.9%, while real prices have fallen by 26.6%. The repeal has empowered property owners and tenants to negotiate contract terms freely, including duration, adjustment indexes and currency types. By June 2024, the supply of rental apartments had more than doubled compared to pre-repeal levels, with prices reflecting this shift, showing a cumulative decline of 26.6% by mid-2024.”

News Talk New Zealand. “Homeowners who bought in a Whangārei housing development say their dreams have been shattered by anti-social behaviour after a whole stage of the subdivision was sold to Kāinga Ora for social housing. But builder Barrett Homes says the project provides much-needed homes in the area, and people are still keen to buy in the development. For homeowners Tina and Adam Davis, whose Tiaki Rise home is on the edge of stage four, the social housing cluster has left them feeling locked in their home. One neighbour with gang affiliations constantly wore a balaclava and, on one day, threatened Tina he would burn their house down. That neighbour has since been moved on by Kāinga Ora but the fear remains for the couple in their 50s, as does problems with loud music, loud vehicles and cars parked all over the street, they say.”

“The new home was meant to be a quiet neighbourhood for their early retirement, but all of that was ‘destroyed’ with the Kāinga Ora development, Adam said. ‘We didn’t see ourselves out on the street battling gang members,’ he said. ‘It’s added an extreme level of stress.’ Tina said had the couple known about the Kāinga Ora development, they would not have bought their house. They now cannot afford to sell, after being told by a real estate agent their home is worth $100,000 less than what they paid.”

From Barron‘s. “China is trying to stabilize its currency and put a floor on sinking bond yields—while also loosening rates—and its mixed messaging is complicating efforts to revive the economy. For investors, the troubles in the property market are a continued concern. While policymakers’ plans in May for a mechanism to allow local governments to buy developers’ unsold inventory and convert it to affordable housing sparked some optimism, Charlene Chu, a debt expert and senior analyst at Autonomous Research says the takeup rate has been very slow, with perhaps not even 10% used yet. ‘Some local governments are pushing trade-in of existing homes for new home programs but they are small in scale because they don’t have money to fund a big expansion—and Beijing is reticent to spend a significant amount on anything in terms of property so the market continues in this spiral,’ she says.”

“And that is worrying to investors—and global companies—who are seeing continued signs of economic instability as households bear the brunt of a hobbled property market. ‘They may have a stable financial system but a very unstable consumer situation,’ Chu says. ‘The presale model for developers essentially meant they were raising money from households and they have defaulted en masse on the households. Allowing this to go on means a lot of impaired assets on the household, which is a key economic headwind.'”

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  2. ‘If you’re looking at a $400,000-$500,000 home, and look at the income that is required, even with a two-household income, that can create (problems), because the lender is looking at debt-to-income ratios,’ Parrish said. ‘So, depending on any individual buyers … your payment per month, unless you’re putting down a pretty good down, is going to be pretty hefty. $3,000-a-month payments is not unusual, unless you’re putting down 20-30% down. Then that issue becomes, do people actually have that kind of money?’

    Jerry will print more Tom. And there’s this:

    ‘Down payments are one area where Quincy is doing well, according to figures from ATTOM. According to a recent report, the median down payment in the United States was $64,000 in June 2024, the last month for which data were available. The median in Washington was a jaw-dropping $130,000. In the Quincy market, however, the median down payment is just over half what it was a year earlier, $26,000 compared to $49,050 in July 2023’

    That’s some sound lending right there.

    1. “If you’re looking at a $400,000-$500,000 home…”

      …then your likely employer is one of the huge new data centers.

      1. I get constant blast-o-grem emails from my employer announcing yet another cloud data center.

        THe thing about those data centers is that a large staff is not needed. Mostly a bunch of IT guys who repair anything that breaks and a few electricians. It’s not like in the old days when half the town worked in the factory,

  3. ‘While Austin finds itself in first place, it’s not the only U.S. city where renters get more for their money. Coming in second is Seattle, followed by Los Angeles, Nashville, Phoenix, Columbus, Dallas, San Francisco, New York and Boston’

    If you bought in these sh$tholes the last few years you are a speculator using borrowed money.

    1. Californians need Soylent Green bicycles, you know, the ones with a generator rather than a rear wheel.

    2. I’ve been seeing a lot online ads for whole house generators (not the portable ones). Of course, nat gas is likely overpriced in SoCal as well, but at least it’s a line of defense against rolling blackouts,

    3. “…wages are being outstripped by the soaring costs of insurance & utilities?…”

      Another Saturday, another out-of-control holding costs story.

  5. ‘Some local governments are pushing trade-in of existing homes for new home programs but they are small in scale because they don’t have money to fund a big expansion—and Beijing is reticent to spend a significant amount on anything in terms of property so the market continues in this spiral’

    Xitler isn’t going to save you Charlene.

    ‘And that is worrying to investors—and global companies—who are seeing continued signs of economic instability as households bear the brunt of a hobbled property market. ‘They may have a stable financial system but a very unstable consumer situation,’ Chu says. ‘The presale model for developers essentially meant they were raising money from households and they have defaulted en masse on the households’

    And the gringo bond-bag holders.

    1. The nightmare scenario for the Fed & its bullion bank market manipulators is being forced to cover their massive naked short positions in gold & silver due to 1.4 billion fearful Chinese stacking the shiny as they realize Emperor Xi has lost the Mandate of Heaven and CCP central planning has led the country to ruin. When millions of stampers of little feet resort to violent uprisings, things could spiral out of control very quickly.

      https://www.miningweekly.com/article/chinas-gold-demand-expected-to-rebound-as-economic-jitters-spur-buying-2024-08-26

      1. When millions of stampers of little feet resort to violent uprisings, things could spiral out of control very quickly.

        Will they uprise? Did they revolt during Mao’s Great Leap Forward, when millions died of starvation? Did they revolt during their draconian Covid lockdowns?

        What is more likely is that the little people will have their PM’s confiscated.

        Speaking of PMs, while CostCo sells silver coins, they are usually sold out. Sounds like some Americans are also stacking

        2. Sounds like some Americans are also stacking.

          By some estimates as many as 20 million Americans are “prepping” to one degree or another. Many in this fast-growing community are well aware of the Fed’s fiat currency fraud and are stacking the shiny in case of a dollar collapse. Back in 1980 the Hunt Brothers were able to corner the silver market and drive the price of silver bullion from $5 to $50 before crooked regulators changed market rules to prevent the Hunts from bankrupting the Fed’s bullion bank market riggers who had massive silver short positions. But #WallStreetSilver and other Reddit groups have talked about orchestrating a silver squeeze that would force panic-buying as the silver shorts scrambled to cover their positions. As millions more people become red-pilled by inflation, more and more of them will be converting their debased Yellen Bux into physical precious metals. Since silver is such an illiquid market, this could end up causing a melt-up in prices, which would be an extinction-level event for the banksters who have been artificially suppressing the price of silver with spoofing and naked shorting – both illegal, but ignored by captured, complicit regulators and enforcers.

          https://x.com/hashtag/silver?src=hashtag_click

    2. Yankee bond bag holders. Remember, to most foreigners we are Yankees. And don’t bother trying to explain to them that most Americans are not Yankees. Telling them that you aren’t a Yankee because you’re a Southerner will go right over their heads.

        1. Whatever you do, please don’t misgender me. Ever since I began self-identifying as a Yemeni lesbian to avoid paying reparations for slavery, people just assume that because I look like a corn-fed white boy, this must be my true identity – this triggers me. Oh, and call me “Fatima” instead of “Francis.”

      2. “…most Americans are not Yankees.”

        Israel’s most vociferous are tall, white Europeans rather than short brown guys resembling Yasser Arafat.

  6. ‘It is my understanding that Venezuela does not share criminal histories with the United States, so it’s very difficult to vet them at the border, yet they’ve been allowed to come in anyway’

    Every single day, in multiple ways, the federal guberment will tell us they are ‘keeping us safe’.

    1. Naming?

      Yes, naming. The names of these organizations are the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti Defamation League.

      Always be naming.

      White Christian Europeans carved a civilization out of a wilderness in North America, built the greatest nation in human history, and you, their descendent, are now being replaced.

    2. Every single day, in multiple ways, the federal guberment will tell us they are ‘keeping us safe’.

      And they will try to gaslight us when things spiral out of control, as they have in Aurora, CO.

      So who can Aurora PD turn to for help? State Police or the National Guard? Not when the governor insists there is no problem. Gov. Polis is no doubt trying to save his career. He is serving his second and final term as governor. Where he will go after that is unknown. Perhaps a cabinet position in a possible Harris administration. But he won’t get one if he admits that criminal immigrants are out of control in his state.

    1. You won’t see that on the nightly broadcast news.

      Remember, viewers, the vaccine is safe and effective.

  8. Immigrant families in Colorado ‘really harmed’ by national attention on Tren de Aragua, activists say (8/30/2024):

    “The national attention on the presence of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) in Colorado could harm immigrants who are not associated with the gang, according to activists.

    Videos of people alleging Venezuelan gang members are “taking over” Aurora have circulated on social media, particularly claims about an apartment complex the city is closing near Colfax and Peoria.

    “That screams to me ‘racist.’ It screams to me that it’s capitalizing on a political opportunity to push hate against immigrants,” said Nate Kassa, a community organizer for the East Colfax Community Collective.

    “When this narrative goes out, especially recently, there is sometimes a little bit of a hesitancy to reach out and try to support these people,” said Kassa.

    Kassa is concerned that resources for law-abiding immigrant families could dwindle if the public loses sight of them.

    “So many families, kids, children and residents were really harmed by this narrative,” he said.

    https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/immigrant-families-in-colorado-really-harmed-by-national-attention-on-tren-de-aragua-activists-say

    Resources, Nate?

    Resources provided by who, exactly? Oh, right, the taxpayers.

    You are not only being replaced, but you are paying taxes to fund your own replacement, because globalists gonna globe.

    1. Kassa is concerned that resources for law-abiding immigrant families could dwindle if the public loses sight of them.

      Now that’s a kneeslapper. Law abiding? Where to start?

      -They entered the country illegally.
      -Most destroyed their documentation so they could create new identities for themselves when they entered the USA
      – They operate motor vehicles without license or insurance.
      – They say that they will not accept deportation willingly. (very Camp of the Saints)

  10. ‘Consider a new approach to real estate investing beyond buying a condo,’ one ad reads, offering regular folks an opportunity to ‘become a real estate developer,’ with annual targeted returns of 20 per cent.

    Every time a real estate speculator gets fleeced, an angel gets its wings.

  12. Joe Biden’s America.

    Junkies, migrant squatters turn NYC block into a crime-ridden nightmare, starting blaze with stolen e-bikes that torched 2 nearby homes (8/31/2024):

    “The worst of New York City’s worlds have collided on one Brooklyn block – where junkie squatters rented out an abandoned home to migrants, whose dozens of apparently stolen bikes and scooters sparked an inferno that scorched two neighboring homes, The Post has learned.

    But even the Aug. 17 conflagration couldn’t keep the squatters away from the East 36th Street abode in Marine Park.

    “For the next two days, people were coming back again and again,” a 45-year-old neighbor told The Post, even after the city boarded up the second-floor windows and poured cement across the first-floor doors and windows.

    The house has seen a revolving door of junkies and freeloaders, neighbors said.

    “It’s been scary because sometimes I will get home at night alone, and there will be like four random men just sitting in their front yard, and I don’t know who they are,” a teenage girl who lives across the street told The Post.

    “You’ve got your original 10 crackheads and then they started to bring in migrants and they were charging them $600 a month to stay there. Where are they getting that? They’re robbing.”

    https://nypost.com/2024/08/31/us-news/junkie-migrants-turn-nyc-block-into-flaming-crime-ridden-nightmare-for-residents-its-scary/

  14. Local media indicate that the supply of rental properties surged by an astonishing 211.9%, while real prices have fallen by 26.6%.

    The commies will be squealing like pigs as free-market economics trump Marxist dogma.

  16. Pelosi responded, “Well, let me just say, immigration had always been a bipartisan issue.”

    Maher cut in to say, “But not free housing.”

    Pelosi on CA Using Tax Dollars to Help Illegals Buy Homes: Have to Make Home Ownership ‘Available to All’

    Ian Hanchett
    31 Aug 2024

    On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” House Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that while she’s not familiar with the details of California’s legislation to allow illegal immigrants to get taxpayer assistance for buying homes, “making the American Dream of home ownership available to all people is something we have to do for people who are here now” and she wants to move illegal immigrants “to documented.” But ultimately, the issue is up to the states.

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/08/31/pelosi-on-ca-using-tax-dollars-to-help-illegals-buy-homes-have-to-make-home-ownership-available-to-all/

    1. “taxpayer assistance”

      I didn’t get any.

      Working with the hammer chisel, sledgehammer, and pry bar to demo out 100 year old concrete resting on dirt grade at the perimeter of the foundation today.

      Why bother working? I should just get back on I-25 drive on down to El Paso, cross the border, lose my passport, then come back in and get a house for free.

      1. You have no voice in the system, but pay something like 40% of your hard-earned wages in taxes to support globalist stooges who are importing millions more dependency voters who share their antipathy for everything you hold dear.

        Taxation without representation caused the American Revolution. Now we’re dealing with something far worse. At least King George and the British Crown never tried to replace the Heritage American population.

      2. If you have a Passport then the gooberment has your fingerprints. It would only take ICE a moment to tag you as a citizen. That said, they might arrest you for crossing the border illegally, even though you are a citizen.

        One time at O’Hare I was going through immigration upon returning from Europe. I heard an immigration agent holler at some poor schlub who was trying to enter the country legally. Don’t know if the dude was American or not, and don’t know what the circumstances were. All I know is that unlike the border guards the agents at the airport weren’t fistbumping the dude for whatever irregularity he had.

          1. I noticed the same thing that last time I visited the UK. Even with my US passport the agent in Heathrow didn’t just waive me through. I was asked questions about where I was going, where would I stay, where I lived in the US, what I did for a living. And I noticed that people with “less powerful” passports, who had visas, were treated like criminals.

            It is insulting to be treated like that when they treat illegals better. Of course, now with freedom of expression suppressed in the UK, I have no intention of visiting again.

    2. Pelosi responded, “Well, let me just say, immigration had always been a bipartisan issue.”

      She’s not wrong. For the past five decades at least, the Establishment GOP has been the controlled opposition, answering to the same Cabal of globalist mega-donors and AIPAC minders as the Democrats. The former wanted open borders to drive down labor costs, while the latter wanted “fundamental transformation” that required importing millions of 3rd World dependency voters that would share the DNC’s antipathy towards the Constitution, Heritage America, and Christianity. This is how we got the treasonous RINOs and neocons like John McCain, Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, and their ilk who “worked across the isle” to advance globalist agendas.

    2. Dean of Berkeley Law School, Professor Erwin Chemerinsky

      A member of the tribe who wants to tear up the Constitution and replace it with a Marxist one. Knock me over with a feather.

  19. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is under intense scrutiny following his recent admission that the $400 million he contributed to local election efforts, dubbed “Zuck Bucks,” may have inadvertently favored Democratic candidates during the critical 2020 election.

    In a letter addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Zuckerberg expressed regret over the implications of his funding, claiming his intention was to promote fair elections across the nation without bias toward either political party.

    Republican analysts are not buying Zuckerberg’s defense, arguing that the funds were clearly funneled to left-leaning organizations deeply entrenched in Democratic politics.

    Zuckerberg’s latest comments come during a time when he seems to be preparing for a potential investigation into his role in the election funding landscape, especially as Trump’s upcoming book threatens legal repercussions for those perceived to have manipulated the electoral system.

    In “Save America,” Trump warns Zuckerberg that should he attempt similar actions in the upcoming 2024 election, he “will spend the rest of his life in prison” for any transgressions. Trump characterized Zuckerberg as having been a “nice guy” during their interactions but claims he was always scheming against him.

    https://redstateobserver.com/article.asp?id=220390

    1. “will spend the rest of his life in prison”

      I was wondering what led to Zuckerberg having a come to Jesus moment when it came to his involvement with the 2020 election.

      1. Snakes might shed their skin, but they remain reptiles. Zuckerberg knew full well the $419 million he donated to the Democrat Party in 2020 would finance the election steal. He also knows that given the vast wealth inequality and speculative excesses created by the Fed, the day is getting closer when the Fed’s house of cards implodes under the weight of its own debt and fraud. On that day, the pitchforks and torches will be coming for all those who amassed obscene ill-gotten fortunes at the expense of the pauperized middle and working classes. So now Zuck is trying to save his reptilian skin with insincere mea culpas and promises to mend his ways, but this creepy Orwellian traitor needs to be held accountable for his election interference and suppression of free speech on FB and Meta.

        1. “Zuckerberg knew full well the $419 million he donated to the Democrat Party in 2020 would finance the election steal.”

          Hordes of functionally illiterate became registered democrats thanks to Zuck’s canvassers.

          1. Facebook was a DARPA project called LifeLog. Facebook launched the same day LifeLog was cancelled, February 4, 2004.

          2. Facebook also hired a former DARPA head, Regina Dugan, to lead Building 8, a research group developing hardware projects to advance the company’s efforts in virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and global connectivity.

    2. Some people insist that Zuck is what is known as a “ticket taker”, meaning that his success is not his own and that he is a “made man”. These same people are now saying that his usefulness has expired, meaning that he might be thrown under the bus, especially if a scapegoat is needed.

      1. When the Nuremberg 2.0 tribunals are held, he needs to be among the first in the dock to receive summary justice for his role in suppressing truth-tellers who tried to warn the populace about the “safe, effective vaccines and globalist agendas driving the scamdemic.

  20. Gold is soaring. Currently trading at more than US$2,500 an ounce, it’s up nearly a quarter since the start of the year and 7 per cent in just the past month. There’s seldom been a better time to own it – and that may be a warning.

    At first, rising demand had been driven largely by central banks, particularly those in developing countries, looking to diversify their reserves away from the ubiquitous greenback. But more recently retail investors have got in on the action. When gold goes ballistic like this, it’s often the proverbial canary in the coal mine, telling us trouble lies just over the horizon.

    To see why, we can go back to the timeline. When the pandemic erupted in 2020, central banks slashed interest rates to near zero to protect the economy. That triggered spectacular bull markets in asset prices. Then, at the end of 2021, when inflation took off in Western countries, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell famously announced that the time had come to retire the term “transitory.” With price increases by then proving more tenacious than central banks had anticipated, they all decided it was time to raise interest rates again. Early the next year, they started doing so.

    That’s when the bull run on everything, from shares and real estate to meme-stocks and cryptocurrencies, came to an end. Since then, commercial real estate has crashed. Canadian house prices are down, on average, nearly 20 per cent. Stock markets across the developed world have been flat and even the U.S. market, which has been sucking in money from around the world, has risen at an annualized inflation-adjusted rate of only about 3 per cent. Bitcoin, the supposed digital gold, after rocketing nearly 600 per cent in the two years after central banks opened the money spigots in 2020, has moved sideways since then.

    But the real gold? Since the end of the easy-money era, it’s up more than 40 per cent, making it one of the few things worth owning. It tells you something when a shiny rock that has almost no practical or industrial use whatsoever, and produces nothing, has become the hottest thing going.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-as-gold-prices-glitter-it-might-herald-dark-times-ahead-for-investors/

  21. Fertilizer producer Nutrien Ltd is scaling back operations in Brazil, the world’s largest agricultural exporter, after a series of setbacks in the region that included a US$220-million loss on unauthorized derivatives trades.

    Nutrien, the world’s largest potash producer, also announced an employee made currency derivatives trades in Brazil “outside of the company’s internal policy and authority limits,” resulting in a US$220-million loss. Nutrien vice-president Megan Fielding said Nutrien closed the derivatives positions in July and the employee is no longer with the company.

    Over the past 12 months, Nutrien’s share price has fallen 23 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange and analysts say the company now trades at a valuation significantly below historic levels.

    “Sentiment on Nutrien is at a low point, with concerns around weak ag fundamentals, retail recovery, potash supply adds, low cash conversion and a lack of clear positive catalysts,” RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analyst Andrew Wong said in a report. “The Brazil derivatives issue added to negative sentiment, even if not significantly material financially.”

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-nutrien-retreats-in-brazil-after-mishaps-executive-departures/

  22. China’s solar manufacturers have just been through a bloodbath of an earnings season, but there are tentative signs the massive glut that’s plaguing the industry could be starting to ease.

    Longi Green Energy Technology Co. and five other leading solar firms racked up a combined $2 billion of losses in the first half after a frenzy of factory building over the last few years created excess capacity that’s driven prices to record lows. Some smaller companies have already been forced into restructuring, while rising trade tensions with the US and Europe may put exports at risk.

    Longi said it hoped to “push the industry out of a quagmire of low price competition” as it raised solar wafer prices this week. TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy Technology Co. also said this week it will increase prices of three types of wafers, according to a report in Chinese media.

    “I don’t know if prices can fall beyond this point, it’s just too much for even the biggest players,” said Cosimo Ries, an analyst at Trivium China in Shanghai. “It’s still going to be a pretty painful year, and maybe longer before that capacity gets cleared.”

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-troubled-solar-industry-may-022552975.html

  23. A water vending machine business accused by a Jefferies Financial Group Inc. hedge fund of orchestrating a large Ponzi-like scheme may be forced into bankruptcy.

    Creditors of WaterStation Management and two affiliates filed involuntary bankruptcy petitions against the companies on Aug. 27 in Texas. Jefferies’ 352 Capital fund isn’t involved in the bankruptcy filings but last month accused a former portfolio manager, WaterStation and its founder of misappropriating more than $100 million in company bonds as part of a “massive fraud.”

    The petitions were filed days after a Washington state judge appointed a receiver to manage WaterStation. It couldn’t immediately be learned Friday how the involuntary bankruptcies in Texas could impact the receiver.

    Involuntary bankruptcies are rare and WaterStation has a few weeks to respond to the petition, according to court documents. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the involuntary bankruptcy petitions.

    Lawyers representing WaterStation creditors that initiated the forced bankruptcy didn’t return messages Friday seeking comment. WaterStation founder Ryan Wear and his lawyers didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. A Jefferies spokesperson declined to comment.

    WaterStation and Wear have been named in several lawsuits, according to court records. 352 sued WaterStation and Wear in July, alleging the company and its founder didn’t use bond proceeds to grow the business and purchase water vending machines, as they claimed.

    Wear claimed to operate thousands of water machines in locations across the US, but “It was all a fraud,” 352 said in court papers. The majority of the water machines didn’t exist and bond proceeds were being used to pay investors “too good to be true” fixed returns, the fund has alleged.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vendor-accused-jefferies-fraud-faces-184657657.html

  24. Mexican drug lord who founded ultra-violent Zetas is released from US prison

    One of the most notorious drug chiefs in Mexico’s history, Osiel Cardenas, was released from a US prison on Friday into the custody of immigration officials who may deport him.

    Former leader of the Gulf Cartel, Cardenas presided over some of the bloodiest gang violence in Mexico’s turbulent past and has been blamed for transforming drug trafficking by embracing hyper-violent tactics such as decapitations.

    Cardenas founded the Zetas, an armed wing of the Gulf Cartel made up of former army special forces.

    He was captured after a gun battle in 2003 and extradited to the United States in 2007. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010.

    The Zetas later branched off on their own and became, for a while, the most deadly crime group in Mexico before largely fizzling out.

    A spokesperson for the US prison service told Reuters Cardenas was released “into the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)” earlier on Friday.

    It was not clear if Cardenas will be deported to Mexico, or remain on US soil.

    An ICE spokesperson said its Enforcement and Removal Operations officers took custody of Cardenas at the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, and “he remains in ICE custody pending a final disposition determination”.

    https://nypost.com/2024/08/31/us-news/mexican-drug-lord-osiel-cardenas-who-founded-ultra-violent-zetas-is-released-from-us-prison/

    1. Hmmm … I wonder if the US wants something from Mexico, and will release this thug into Mexico if they do not cooperate.

      Mexico is undergoing some sort of Judicial reform. Both the American and Canadian embassies have condemned the reforms. Mexico responded by censoring the ambassadors, and is now refusing to speak with them.

      AMLO was very angry with the ambassadors and he told them to keep their noses out of Mexican internal affairs. He leaves office this December and will be succeeded by Claudia Sheinbaum.

      Anyway, I’m not sure what the US gooberment is trying to do here. Sheinbaum has a PhD from Berkeley so her thinking must be more in line with the DNC. Her father was a member of the Mexican Communist party, so she is a red diaper baby.

      Anyway, things are going to get interesting.

    2. It was not clear if Cardenas will be deported to Mexico, or remain on US soil.

      I wonder if the DNC has approached him to head up the NKVD-like internal security force they will need to set up before they try to disarm the Bitter Clingers so they can take the Communism to the next level.

  25. German army withdraws from Niger as military regime turns to Russia

    The German armed forces have ended an eight-year deployment to Niger after surrendering control of a key airbase in the West African country.

    A military plane carrying the remaining 60 German troops stationed at the base in the capital Niamey landed in Germany on Friday evening.

    A second A400M transport aircraft carrying equipment was also on its way back.

    The airbase in the outskirts of Niamey was staffed by up to 120 German military personnel and had been considered a key asset in Western efforts to contain terrorism in the region.

    After failing to reach agreement with Nigerien authorities on legal immunity for its military personnel, Berlin agreed to surrender control of the base in July.

    Following coups in Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger was for a time seen as the West’s last democratically ruled partner in battling terrorism in the region, which has suffered repeated attacks by Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

    However, the army also took control of the country in Niger in a coup on July 26 last year.

    The Niamey airbase served as the logistics hub for the UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in neighbouring Mali that was set up in 2013 and terminated last year. Some 3,200 German troops served in Niamey over the years.

    Welcoming the returning troops upon arrival at Germany’s Wunstorf airbase, German State Secretary of Defence Nils Hilmer noted that more than 200 service men and women lost their lives while deployed for MINUSMA and the European Union Training Mission Mali.

    Hilmer said this number was “too high a price to pay in view of the limited success at political level in this region.”

    Three German troops were killed and 13 injured during the MINUSMA mission, according to the Defence Ministry.

    Hilmer praised the efforts of the soldiers following the order to redeploy in July as an outstanding military, logistical and planning achievement.

    The German base in Niger has cost Germany around €130 million ($143.7 million) since its launch in 2016, the government revealed in response to a parliamentary question from lawmaker Sevim Dagdelen from the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).

    The German Defence Ministry had initially planned to keep the base operational after the end of the Mali mission, using it for potential evacuation or emergency missions.

    It was also seen as a way to keep a strategic foothold in the region.

    However, like its neighbours, Niger has since turned increasingly to Russia, housing Russian military training personnel at a base in Niamey, while all former partners have been expelled from the country.

    Germany is in talks with Senegal to keep equipment at an airbase that was set up temporarily in the coastal country to facilitate the Niger withdrawal.

    Operations at the Senegal base were discontinued after the end of the mission.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/german-army-withdraws-from-niger-as-military-regime-turns-to-russia/ar-AA1pJEzc

    1. Another example of the global south turning its back on clown world and aligning itself with the BRICS.

      As some third world leaders say: China (and Russia) help us build infrastructure and establish trade with us. The US lectures us (I’m guessing about not being rainbow friendly)

      A relative used to work for an apparel brand. He visited some of the suppliers’ sweatshops in the third world. While corporate didn’t seem too concerned about pay or working conditions, there were plenty of posters in the break rooms cheering the rainbow. He learned that corporate made it clear to suppliers that this was VERY important, and they wanted to see lgb employees in the sweatshop.

      1. e learned that corporate made it clear to suppliers that this was VERY important, and they wanted to see lgb employees in the sweatshop.

        It’d be great if the third world slowed down on the procreation for a bit.

    2. The globalist scum media are clutching their pearls at the prospect of German elections this weekend showing big gains for a “far-right party” that is out to monkey-wrench the globalist plans to import millions more 3rd World Islamists, criminals, and welfare recipients to replace the Heritage German population.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05jvve89g3o

  26. I suppose discussing The Interview is worth a few pixels. I thought both halves of the Democratic ticket did fairly well, and I don’t think Dana Bash was all that terrible. (She was, of course, terrible, along with Jake Tapper, in their roles as moderators of Trump-Biden, in which they allowed the former president* to gish-gallop like Secretariat on the backstretch of the Belmont.) She didn’t ask a single question I didn’t anticipate, and she elicited nothing from either candidate that I didn’t already know, although I am a bit startled by Vice President Harris’ sudden devotion to fracking, especially considering the current dangerous rise in methane emissions, which are an inevitable byproduct of the fracking process. I would have liked to hear the vice president address that very real concern, but Bash perseverated on the why-did-you-change? gotcha theme because that’s what you do in the television game.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/i-am-so-sick-of-what-will-you-do-on-day-one/ar-AA1pJTkb

  27. Harris’ CNN interview cements shift to center on fracking, border. It’s disappointing.

    Vice President Kamala Harris received rightful criticism in recent weeks for her failure to hold a press conference since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. On Thursday night, she tried to remedy this with a prerecorded CNN interview.

    Instead, she left me a little disappointed – particularly with her claim that she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet if elected. I was excited about Harris up to this point, but that and other statements to reporter Dana Bash ‒ on issues from fracking to immigration ‒ are proof that she’s shifting toward the middle.

    Gaza wasn’t the only disappointing moment. Now Harris wants to build the wall?

    Harris has changed her position on a few key issues. The one that I find most frustrating is her more conservative stance on immigration. She has taken a new position on expanding a border wall, something that doesn’t secure our border but does villainize Latin American migrants.

    “We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequence,” Harris told Bash.

    It’s an answer I should have expected from a former prosecutor, but I was hoping to hear more grace for people who are fleeing dangerous situations.

    She’s also reversed her stance on fracking to extract oil and gas, which she once wanted to ban. It’s an ironic shift for someone who says she cares about the impact of climate change.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/harris-cnn-interview-cements-shift-to-center-on-fracking-border-its-disappointing/ar-AA1pIGVH

  28. See new posts
    Conversation
    Human Events
    @HumanEvents

    Gold Star Mother Christy Shamblin tells @JackPosobiec: “Our families invited President Trump to lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier with each of our three families … And he graciously accepted our invitation … it was beautiful and respectful”

    2:28 PM · Aug 30, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/HumanEvents/status/1829586954809192667

      1. “We invited the current administration to Arlington and we never hear back from them”

        Funny, I haven’t heard that over the last few days MSM coverage and the Democrat’s outrage that Donald Trump was making this a campaign event.

    1. Aurora’s PD is a “woke” force headed by a DEI hire. They will have zero incentive to do an honest investigation that would belie the Democrat-Bolshevik governor’s assertion that reports of Venezuelan gangs controlling apartment buildings were a “figment of imagination.”

    2. Another reason why I bought rural property 100+ miles away from Denver in a county that has more cows than people.

      There are two deer sitting in my yard now. Back “home” I have junkies passed out on the sidewalk.

      1. “…I bought rural property 100+ miles away from Denver in a county that has more cows than people….”

        A very good, farsighted strategic move.

        Even here in SoCal (Orange County) in the ‘safest city in Calif”, you can notice subtle changes, (especially in the last 5 years), such as individuals who clearly have no way to support themselves, let alone live in this area. Have no idea why they are here, or if they are living off of free government cheese.

        1. “…such as individuals who clearly have no way to support themselves, let alone live in this area.”

          I just spent two weeks in California visiting various sites along the coast and family in San Jose. Nothing is safe unless it’s well locked or bolted to the ground.

          1. I have been bicycling to a park, stop and eat lunch next to a very wealthy Newport Beach enclave for well over 20 years.

            Last Sunday (25-Aug), for the very first time, my favorite picnic table was covered with graffiti with trash everywhere. (which I picked up).

            Observation: It doesn’t take much to turn nice, clean, pristine areas that folks have worked their whole lives for into sh*tholes, as has been well documented by the HBB and its readers for many years.

          2. Nothing is safe unless it’s well locked or bolted to the ground.

            Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

        2. Section 8 maybe like the renters across the street from me with 6 cars and who knows how many people in the house

  30. Now that the scamdemic has normalized government overreach, abuse of authority, and arbitrary, capricious demands for mindless compliance, will we see more low-level functionaries use their positions for personal gratification?

    https://cnycentral.com/news/local/border-patrol-agent-from-ny-accused-of-making-women-expose-breasts-for-entry-into-us-customs-united-states-canada-jefferson-county-northern-new-york-north-country-syracuse-federal-court-constitutional-rights-unreasonable-search#

  31. Reacting To Kamala Harris’s CNN Interview

    Tulsi Gabbard

    5 hours ago

    Harris’ CNN interview exposed her as insecure and weak, which of course is exactly the qualities that will make her the perfect puppet controlled by the faceless, power-hungry warmongers who run our country right now. She will the be the dream “president” for the puppet masters because she’ll be so easy to control and influence.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H8ImXnseAw

    2:24.

  32. ‘MCSO arrested Justin Najdawi, 33, who they say made his way through Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida while attempting to evade a criminal warrant for sexual assault and possession of child pornography…‘Right on this one block with eight houses, there’s three Airbnb’s’…‘now, I’ll be looking around before I come home or whatever, now that you know that this can happen’

    ‘ ‘It wasn’t about empty homes, it was about people staying with each other…If I could do it over again, I would hold onto those values’ Then there was the price gouging. Customers were selecting their accommodation, only to find a series of fees when they got to the last booking page including, in some cases, cleaning ‘fees’ of up to $400. I think I speak for many people when I say I don’t want to spend the last day of my holiday cleaning up a property I have already paid for’

    So many negative vibes over illegal hotels. No one saw this coming.

    1. It is interesting how quickly it went from a bargain to a rip off. I only ever did it once, in La Jolla several years ago. It was OK and a lot cheaper than staying at a proper hotel in La Jolla. But if I have to pay $400 in cleanup fees AND be told I need to clean up on my last day, then I’m not interested.

  33. ‘It’s worth noting, however, that half of these 18 sales involved properties that had been intermittently on the market for several years, some dating back as far as five years and ultimately selling at prices well below the sellers’ initial expectations’

    Thus the artificially low days on market. Relist and reset the days on market. I’d bet all nine multi-year sales had been listed less than a month.

  34. ‘Consider a new approach to real estate investing beyond buying a condo,’ one ad reads, offering regular folks an opportunity to ‘become a real estate developer,’ with annual targeted returns of 20 per cent. Another advertises 31-per-cent annual targeted returns, saying the investment provides a route to ‘become a Toronto real estate investor without the hassle of being a landlord’

    Bunch of RE crooks in K-da.

  35. ‘Sales of waterfront properties in July came in 42.9 per cent below the 10-year average for the month, according to the Lakelands Association of Realtors, which covers a wide swath of northern Ontario cottage country. The median price for waterfront properties in July tumbled 23 per cent from the same month last year to stand at $809,000 for Lakelands, which includes portions of such well-known communities as Muskoka, Haliburton, Georgian Bay Townships and Lake of Bays’

    Prices for these igloos started sinking like a turd in a well in 2022. If YOY July 2024 numbers are off 23%, the drop from peak is yuuge.

  36. ‘The new home was meant to be a quiet neighbourhood for their early retirement, but all of that was ‘destroyed’ with the Kāinga Ora development, Adam said. ‘We didn’t see ourselves out on the street battling gang members,’ he said. ‘It’s added an extreme level of stress.’ Tina said had the couple known about the Kāinga Ora development, they would not have bought their house. They now cannot afford to sell, after being told by a real estate agent their home is worth $100,000 less than what they paid’

    Yer doing the right thing Adam and Tina. Don’t give it away!

    1. All these years I’ve been hearing about how awesome it is to live in Kiwiland. And now it turns out that it’s just another crime ridden sh!thole.

  38. Germany to slash benefits for migrants who arrive from other EU countries to ‘bed, bread and soap’

    Olaf Scholz is poised to remove benefits from refugees who arrive in Germany through other EU countries, leaving them with the bare essentials of “bed, bread, and soap.”

    Following the Islamic State-inspired terror attack in Solingen last Friday, the German chancellor is said to be preparing new measures to tackle illegal migration.

    According to reports from various German media outlets, Mr Scholz will cut all welfare payments for migrants previously registered in other EU countries.

    Under EU law refugees must apply for asylum in the first country they enter. However, many migrants continue their journey to Germany and other northern European nations after arriving on the Mediterranean coast.

    For the past decade, Berlin has largely ignored the so-called Dublin regulation and allowed migrants to file a second asylum application in Germany.

    Cases where the country has tried to enforce the rules have frequently been thwarted by legal challenges. German courts have often ruled that countries such as Greece fail to meet the EU’s basic requirements for migrant care, including adequate shelter, food, and hygiene.

    Additionally, attempts to deport migrants have been hampered by the reluctance of other EU members to take them back.

    Within Scholz’s coalition, the Green Party are calling for a “Zeitenwende” in public safety – a reference to the chancellor’s declaration of a new era of defence spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

    Complaining that Germany remains “stuck in old ways of thinking,” the Greens advocate handing police increased powers to investigate covertly on social media platforms while also rationalising the country’s tangled web of federal and state police services.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/germany-to-slash-benefits-for-migrants-who-arrive-from-other-eu-countries-to-bed-bread-and-soap/ar-AA1pEs9o

    1. Funny how Marxists talk like the “far right” as elections approach.

      I hope German voters realize that the left is lying to them, and that once the election is secured they will make their border wide open again.

      Just like how Harris is now promising to build the wall and other MAGA talking points.

    1. Finance·investing
      The stock market rally ahead of Fed rate cuts is a once-in-a-lifetime event
      BY Lu Wang, Emily Graffeo and Bloomberg
      August 31, 2024 at 10:42 AM CDT
      Wall Street traders
      Up 25% in the past 12 months, the S&P 500 has never climbed this much in the run-up to the first interest-rate cut of an easing cycle, seven decades of data compiled by Ned Davis Research and Bloomberg show.
      Angela Weiss—AFP via Getty Images

      It began badly. But four weeks on from the worst volatility blowup since the pandemic, August will go down as another grand gesture of confidence by Wall Street in its ability to suss out the future.

      Levels of conviction are soaring across assets. In one example, exchange-traded funds tracking government debt, corporate credit and equities have now risen in unison for four straight months. It’s the longest stretch of correlated gains since at least 2007. Up 25% in the past 12 months, the S&P 500 has never climbed this much in the run-up to the first interest-rate cut of an easing cycle, seven decades of data compiled by Ned Davis Research and

      Traders are leaning into bets with zeal even as serious questions linger about the economy and inflation — and how central bankers will respond. Before the Federal Reserve has even begun to act, bond markets have priced in a slew of rate cuts, measures of default risk are falling and surging equities reflect sure-thing bets the economy will boom.

      Gains of 2.3% for the S&P 500 in August, 1.8% for an ETF tracking long-dated Treasuries and 1.5% for investment-grade bonds all amount to a big show of force by cross-asset bulls, who are convinced Fed Chair Jerome Powell will cut rates into a healthy economy. All told, the wagers are at the mercy of how economic data — capricious of late — plays out on the cusp of the central bank’s meeting on Sept. 18.

      “Everything has to go right,” said Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “We need to continue to have trend or above trend economic growth. We need to have a labor market that’s not too hot, not too cold. And that then would allow for the consumer to continue to consume. Those things all have to be in a perfect balance.”
      …
      https://fortune.com/2024/08/31/stock-market-rally-fed-rate-cuts-once-in-a-lifetime-sp500/

    2. Nvidia will grow to a $10 trillion company and the Blackwell chip will be like ‘fireworks’ for the stock, analyst says
      Jennifer Sor
      Aug 30, 2024, 10:02 AM CDT
      Jensen Huang photo collage
      Michael M. Santiago/Getty, Tyler Le/BI

      – Nvidia is on track to hit a $10 trillion valuation, analyst Beth Kindig says.

      – Kindig is forecasting strong growth and “fireworks” for the stock after its Blackwell launch.

      – Jensen Huang assured investors on Nvidia’s next-gen AI chip, promising “billions” in revenue.
      …
      https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nvidia-stock-prediction-nvda-price-valuation-blackwell-ai-chip-gpu-2024-8

    3. Yahoo Finance
      What Nvidia’s sell-off is saying about the broader market
      Josh Lipton and Madison Mills
      Thu, Aug 29, 2024, 3:30 PM CDT
      In this article:

      Nvidia (NVDA) posted its second quarter earnings report after the closing bell on Wednesday. The chip giant beat analyst expectations on both the top and bottom lines, yet its results failed to impress investors’ sky-high expectations, sending shares downward in Thursday’s session.

      US Bank Wealth Management senior investment strategist Rob Haworth joins Market Domination to break down Nvidia’s earnings and what investors are looking for moving forward.

      “What we saw is investors were somewhat disappointed with the beat. I mean, you had this beat of expectations on the Nvidia side. It’s still fairly good news for the future there. But it wasn’t quite as good as investors hoped. And I think the challenge is we may be moving kind of past that peak acceleration in artificial intelligence spending. And that’s maybe some of the concern we’re seeing here,” Haworth explains.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/video/nvidias-sell-off-saying-broader-203051555.html

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