They Were Getting Easy Credit To Build So They Built, Then The Bottom Fell

1. Realtors are liars.

2. ‘Post COVID when interest rates were in the 2 to 3 percent range, home prices dramatically increased flooding the single family home market – which ultimately pushed many buyers who wanted a home and wanted to take advantage of low interest rates into the condo and townhome market…Now that interest rates are much higher, demand has flattened and those with means that want to are able to get into a single family home. They can be more selective’

   So minor respiratory illness airbox buyers can now get a shack fer less at the same time Pitfalls of Commie Urban Living™ are kicking their a$$ Chris? They’re double fooked.

3. ‘Zimmel’s bigger worry, he said, is how the struggle over insurance could affect his home’s value, which his real estate agent estimates at about $725,000. ‘I just don’t know what’s going to happen to the town if this keeps happening’

   I drove through this area in 2004 on my way to Arizona. It’s very nice and it’s a fire waiting to happen. There’s no way to defend those shacks. This situation highlights what I contend is the insurance problem. Back then you could buy a shack for half of what Dick thinks his is worth (and it was a bubble then). How much of a premium would a company need to charge to come up with three quarters of a million pesos on one shack? Every shack on the road could be gone in an hour.

   This is bum fook New Mexico. No jobs, nothing to do but hike and drive around.

4. ‘Nobody would like to sell in this current environment if they can avoid it,’ Curry said. ‘So they kicked the can. Ultimately, that can can’t be kicked much farther. That will force a lot of deals to the market to clear at whatever price. That’s what’s going to get capital really excited, when there’s a lot more opportunity to buy with market-rate sellers’

   That’s the spirit Chris, it’s a bottom feeders market!

5. Recently, he ridiculed Powell’s role as ‘the greatest job in government,’ saying, ‘you show up to the office once a month, and you say, ‘Let’s see, flip a coin’

   Over to you Jerry.

   ‘In the Eurosystem, which comprises the European Central Bank and the region’s 20 national peers, the central banks of Germany, France and Italy together had more people on their payrolls. While Powell hasn’t responded directly, ECB President Christine Lagarde challenged Trump’s gripe, inviting him to come and observe the work of her team in Frankfurt. ‘I have thousands of hard-working people — economists, jurists, computer scientists — and I can assure you that they work super hard every day, not just once a month,’ she told Bloomberg TV. ‘We defend the euro, and we fight for the euro, just as the Fed defends the dollar’

   Sitting under a sun lamp isn’t working Christine. And trashing 95% of the pesos value isn’t defending sh$t.

   1. economists, jurists, computer scientists

      Are these people busy building 3D printed guns with which to “defend the euro”?

6. ‘neighbors of Seagate are ‘not going to be able to enjoy their retirement days staring at a massive wall’

   It’s still way cheaper than renting Ray.

7. “Apparently, gone are the days when the elite have a lot of idle money to buy units for speculation. Even the corrupt politicians who buy condo units for their mistresses are apparently deciding to stay financially liquid.”

   OMG, the humanity!

8. “The Federal Reserve Board in Washington and 12 regional reserve banks across the US employed about 24,000 people last year.”

   Isn’t this where god’s children get their first job out of college?

   1. “employed about 24,000 people”

      The Parasite Class.

      Tapeworms, mosquitoes, leeches, all parasitic organisms clothed in a human skin suit.

      The Fed has a “mandate” to maintain 2% annual inflation of the fiat dollar, translation: the Coin Clippers will shave off 2% (and often more) of your silver every year, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

      It’s almost Jesus’s birthday. Remember when he chased the moneychangers out of the temple with a whip? Remember that one?

      Ron Paul tried to warn us, but nobody listened…

      1. “almost Jesus’s birthday”

         Actually, no. Under political pressure the Catholic Church has often fused the belief of others with their own for solidarity. December 25th is more about worship of the sun god. Worshippers of the sun, around the time of the winter solstice, believed this act would bring back the sun and longer days. Jesus birthday is found nowhere in the Bible and if you examine the context you’ll realize it was likely fall or spring. One example is shepherds would not be sleeping outdoors tending flocks in the dead of winter in Palestine at that time. It’s interesting research. I believe in Jesus, just not calling Christmas his birthday. But hey, Santa ain’t real either.

         1. the dead of winter in Palestine

            How cold does it get? I thought it was mild.

            1. It’s snowing up in the Golan Heights.

      2. “…2024 budget: 24,553 [employees]…”

         Can even begin to wrap my head around what all these people must do.

         Certainly many with advanced PhD degrees.

         The Fed traditionally has been one of the most opaque parts of government. Probably easier to get inside the CIA than the Fed.

         Going to be interesting to see how all this unravels…

9. “According to the report, Emeryville is one of only two cities in the Bay Area that has seen a decline in home values since the 2020 pandemic. While San Francisco has seen a 3% decline in median home values since 2019 according to Zillow data, Emeryville has seen a 12% decline over this same span.”

   Why does my inner skeptic suspect underreporting of Bayarea real estate losses?

   That said, I am pretty sure those price decline numbers don’t factor inflation into the calculation. If inflation were considered, I suspect a lot more Bayarea real estate losses would come to light.

10. Joe Biden’s America.

    New York Post — NYC pledged to clean up the ‘Broadway of the Bronx’ — but it’s still teeming with junkies: ‘These streets are full of zombies’ (12/22/2024):

    “The “Broadway of the Bronx” is a drug-ridden wasteland, where hordes of zonked-out junkies openly buy dope, shoot up and overdose in broad daylight — despite city officials’ years-old pledge to end the ceaseless squalor.

    The Post spent several days in “The Hub” — the commercial area between Melrose and Mott Haven that encompasses Roberto Clemente Plaza — and found scenes of drug-fueled depravity and an ever-present unwelcome haze of crack smoke.

    Two addicts were seen suffering apparent overdoses and dozens more nodded off or involuntarily contorted their bodies into the telltale “fentanyl fold.”

    One potential overdose victim lay face down on the sidewalk for 10 minutes until a fellow addict gave him doses of life-saving Narcan. A few feet away, a haggard man nonchalantly injected a syringe into a woman’s neck.

    “These streets are full of zombies,” said Emilio Morales, general manager of the landmark Opera House Hotel, a 3-star inn on East 149th Street. “It has never been as bad as it is now.”

    https://nypost.com/2024/12/22/us-news/the-hub-in-the-bronx-is-still-overrun-with-addicts-despite-city-cleanup-pledge/

    And remember, George Soros holds the receipts for all of this, because he paid for it to happen.

    1. Whatever happened to methadone and suboxone, the drugs that were supposed to prevent withdrawal? Some years back there were news stories of people going to a facility, drinking a little ounce-glass of meds, and going about their day. They had to come back every morning for another dose, but they were at least functional. A former acquaintance of mine worked for a drug start-up that was working on a monthly shot for the same thing. I wonder if they’ve made any progess.

       There are people on all kinds of strong daily meds, for life. Surely there’s some way to require these people to take these anti-withdrawal meds, preferably while living in a shelter. Even if all they can do is sit around and read books or play games, that’s still a win compared to where they are now.

       I daresay it would actually be cheaper than the patchwork homeless-industrial complex we have.

       1. Those don’t work on the new stuff. In Kensington they are mixing horse tranq in with the fent and nothing works on it. They are all stuck on a road to hell. I’ve watched a number of interviews of people with gaping holes in their flesh and they are well aware where they are headed but they cant find anything that will stop the addiction. It is way worse than most people realize. They claim they lose all control if they stop, even bodily functions like bowels etc. Pure madness with no way out. To them, staying high is the only reasonable option even though they hate it and don’t wish it on anyone else. To stay high most of them do various crimes throughout the day.

          1. Which brings up another, far less ethical question.

          2. Where we are today with this problem was unthinkable ten years ago. What will it be like in another ten years?

             1. “Golden Brown” – Mariachi Mexteca (now known as The Mariachis) feat. Hugh Cornwell

                The Mariachis

                12 years ago

                A great honour and great fun to meet and play with one of our favourite legends of music and being able to perform a “Golden Brown” remake with legend Hugh Cornwell.

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy8Y3R4dXyc

                3:28.

       2. Whatever happened to methadone and suboxone, the drugs that were supposed to prevent withdrawal?
          getting suboxine in FL was, in my opinion, incredibly expensive. First ya got to go to a Dr. to get a script. $150, then ya gotta buy it. Another $120. I was stunned it wasn’t essentially free, but it wasn’t, IIRC that was for a 3 month supply.

11. Why does that creep Bill Gates get to fund private Companies suck8ng up Co2 and storing it? Blocking out the Sun is another one.
    If Gates sucked up the oxygen people would immediately say the oxygen doesn’t belong to him, but because it’s carbon he can just take it.
    I mean when they first started talking about sucking up carbon, the first question is what are they going to do with it..
    But you can’t ask any questions about the counter measures to so called carbon emissions , which is a necessary emission for life.
    And the self appointed Climate Change and Vaccine Czar Bill Gates is also buying up farmland and releasing mosquitoes in US States.

    But, this is exactly what the WEF talks about, and that is private/ public partnerships between Government and Monopoly Corporations and fat cats like Bill Gates.
    It’s basically a insurrection by Private Parties to create a One World Order that cuts off government by the people for these Entities to rule under their Stakeholder Capitalism Global goverance.
    Whoever owns technology will control the World, according to Klaus Schwab. John Kerry said, no government can stop the” market forces.”
    Is technology and market forces the
    replacement for Government by the people? Is this a power grab so Mega Corporations and Rich Elites can force enslavement on humanity based on their fraudulent narrative of Climate Change and manufactured Panademics?
    I submit that this was a pre planned scheme for Mega Corporations and Rich Elites to control the resources of earth and force humanity into enslavement, under the pretense of
    GLOBAL Emergencies.
    You will own nothing, eat bugs, but will be happy is their end game goal. The Monopoly model of destroying all competition until you have all the marbles. Even take free speech so your can defraud the masses .
    And the Governments of the globe are colluding with this Agenda. Can’t even get a killer vaccine taken off the market, while governments stock pile more unsafe and not effective MRNA failed fake technology..Sane with stupid eliminate co2 emissions fraud.
    I guess the people just have to refuse to comply with this insanity that is bat shit crazy fraud..

    1. I’m betting on Moonpie & Jonathan E.

12. “…This decline seems to driven be a perfect storm of higher interest rates, spiking HOA dues, Insurance rates….”

    Another sleepy Monday, another out-of-control holding costs story.

    Of course, the USA MSM reports on none [or very little] of this, rather its all happy talk in MSM land.

13. From Bloomberg. “Elon Musk, the billionaire tasked with making the US government more efficient come January, has zeroed in on the Federal Reserve. The central bank in charge of protecting the world’s largest economy is ‘absurdly overstaffed,’ Musk wrote on social-media platform X.”

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2023-ar-federal-reserve-system-budgets.htm

    Tables D.1 and D.2 summarize the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ and Federal Reserve Banks’ 2023 budgeted, 2023 actual, and 2024 budgeted operating expenses and employment.

    Table D.1. Total operating expenses of the Federal Reserve System, net of receipts and claims for reimbursement, 2023–24
    Millions of dollars, except as noted
    Total System operating expenses, net of revenue and claims for reimbursement
    2024 budget: 7,123.7 [$M]

    Table D.2. Employment in the Federal Reserve System, 2023–24
    Total System employment
    2024 budget: 24,553 [employees]

    – The Fed is part of the Administrative / Deep State.
    – The Fed is the financing arm Progressive / D Party.
    – The Fed is political; as in the last election with stealth stimulus supporting the loser Comrade Harris candidate

    https://x.com/crossbordercap/status/1870513211499499694
    CrossBorder Capital
    @crossbordercap
    Janet and Jay’s ‘hidden’ Pre-Election #liquidity boost is starting to fade. Implications for 2025 see https://capitalwars.substack.com @johnauthers @gnoble79
    [chart here]
    11:54 AM · Dec 21, 2024 · 22.2K Views

    – The Fed is unelected and unaccountable, although the Fed is supposed to be under Congressional oversight.
    – The Fed has failed many times with serious policy mistakes, and yet, no one is disciplined, reprimanded, or especially, fired.
    – The U.S. dollar is now a “Federal Reserve Note,” a fiat currency being continuously debased by $ printing and other debasement schemes, and has lost at least 97% of its value since the formation of the Fed in 1913. It’s no coincidence that the Federal income tax was also enacted by Congress in 1913.
    – Fed interest rate policy, and indeed all of the Fed, since that’s their primary function, could easily be replaced by the 2 year U.S. Treasury note yield. The U.S. taxpayer would then no longer have to suffer so many injustices, punishing inflation, and a worthless currency, but then they couldn’t fund the Progressive agenda.
    – The former USSR had central planning. How did that work out?

    “The surest way to destroy a nation is to debauch its currency.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
    “The way to crush the bourgeoisie [middle class] is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
    “The establishment of a central bank is 90% of communizing a nation.” – Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin

    The Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto
    1848 by Karl Heinrich Marx
     5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

    1. +1

       End the Fed.

14. The state of carbon markets in 2024

    The trade in carbon credits is a contentious strategy that aims to limit climate change and deforestation, and some see it as a valuable tool. In contrast, others call it a distraction that causes more problems than it solves.

    Criticism surged in 2023. Media reports and scientific analyses called into question not just whether the purchase of carbon credits translated into the avoidance of emissions that would have resulted from the destruction or degradation of forests. Investigations asked whether carbon credit projects were actively causing harm, particularly to forest-dependent communities and Indigenous peoples, whose stewardship is critical to the health of many ecosystems. Benefits appeared to flow disproportionately to entities between the projects on the ground and the buyers of credits, known as intermediaries.

    As 2024 comes to an end, the voluntary market has continued to evolve, with several relevant decisions for its future taken at the U.N. climate conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

    However, according to the analysis, the decisions didn’t go far enough to ensure carbon credits represent a permanent tool to mitigate climate change.

    In early 2025, the Article 6.4 supervisory body will take up work to further clarify rules around the carbon market. Carbon market policy expert Federica Dossi said the group would “have to take tough decisions” that improve the quality of carbon credits over what has existed until now.

    “If they are not, they will have to compete in a low-trust, low-integrity market where prices are likely to be at rock bottom and interest will be low,” Dossi said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/the-state-of-carbon-markets-in-2024/ar-AA1wmttw

15. Hours after suggesting he would seize the Panama Canal, Trump says he wants Greenland, too

    President-elect Donald Trump has resurfaced an old position of his, that the US should take over Greenland, just hours after also threatening to take over the Panama Canal.

    Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that “for purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

    He made the comments in a post announcing the PayPal cofounder Ken Howery as his choice for US Ambassador to Denmark.

    Greenland, the world’s largest island, is an autonomous dependent territory of Denmark, which is a US ally and NATO member.

    Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that “the fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US.”

    He added, “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop.”

    In a separate post, Trump wrote: “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question.”

    “To the Officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly!” he added.

    Trump expressed an interest in the US buying Greenland in 2019, during his first term in office. Greenland’s government quickly rejected the idea, saying that it wasn’t for sale.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hours-after-suggesting-he-would-seize-the-panama-canal-trump-says-he-wants-greenland-too/ar-AA1wmSCA

16. Letters to the editor for Sunday, December 22, 2024

    Apparently, charges in the recent political campaign that Donald Trump was an “existential threat” to democracy was not enough to sway the electorate. Now there is an op-ed in a recent Naples Daily News, “Mental illness and politics: A toxic mix”, that seeks to resurrect thoughts from a book, ”The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” edited by psychiatrist Dr. Brandy Lee and published in 2017.

    Missing from the discussion is the vital fact that Dr. Lee’s appointment at Yale was not renewed as she repeatedly violated one of the basic rules of psychiatry: the patient, Donald Trump, was not examined. Likewise, Lee’s hyperbolic comment: “Trump could destroy the entire human species,” may have prompted some to question her judgment.

    Most alarming is a lesson from the history of the Soviet Union: the abuse of psychiatry as a political weapon; as it was commonplace for Soviet dissidents to be incarcerated in psychiatric hospitals. Its use in the United States as a misguided political cudgel is much more of a threat to society than the supercharged biased comments of Dr. Lee. I’ll put my trust and faith in the American electorate rather than in the writings of a discredited psychiatrist or the reasoning of the former professor of medicine who penned the op-ed.

    James F. Lally, MD, Naples

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/letters-to-the-editor-for-sunday-december-22-2024/ar-AA1wjpr1

    Check out the other LTE. Plenty of TDS in Naples, Florida.

17. Ok, and it’s coming out just how rigged the Med Insurance invisible hand corruption for profit in health care has been .

    I contend that when one person gets screwed over by Health insurance denials, that person thinks it must be a mistake.But when 35 to 4o% are getting screwed over by unjustified denials and stalling, than that’s deliberate..
    Health Ins claims employees are given bonuses for dental of claims, and set on quotas, or they could be fired, according to whistle blowers.
    Bribery or job threat to employees of health claims departments.
    And the discusting incentives they were paid by the Cares Act toprotocols. during Covid to lable everything Covid, along with killing protocals.
    And the biggest affront is tax dollars are used to assault the taxpayers, while the Corps, take the money and run.
    The Covid policies transferred trillions to Mega Corporations and Rich Elites, while small and med business was destroyed.

18. Advocacy group concerned over joint Aurora police, ICE operation

    A migrant and housing advocacy group is asking questions about how the Aurora Police Department carried out an operation that led to the arrest of 16 undocumented immigrants.

    The Housekeys Action Network Denver said Thursday the agency went too far by using ICE agents to take people into custody.

    When Aurora police went to investigate a call for help regarding a home invasion and kidnapping at the Edge at Lowry complex, ICE agents went too. That has Housekeys Action Network Denver organizers concerned.

    “We believe that this is a testing ground right now in Aurora. For them to try out to see how far they can go when it comes to detaining migrants without proper cause, and forcing them into deportation status in a lot quicker fashion,” Housekeys Action Network Denver Organizer V Reeves said.

    The Network said several migrants who had nothing to do with the reported crime were detained by APD and then arrested by ICE.

    “We cannot allow the police force to discriminate against them and mass for where they come from and to force them into this situation,” Organizer Reeves said.

    But the former head of ICE’s Field office in Denver said ICE agents can help positively identify possible gang members. John Fabbricatore said ICE can also help keep migrants in custody until charges are filed in local cases.

    “Once the city determines what they are going to charge them with then the city will come back and give ICE a writ to bring that person into city custody so they can be held at the county jail, Retired ICE Denver Field Office Director John Fabbricatore said.

    Aurora’s new Chief of Police Todd Chamberlain said he would ask federal agencies to help in cases like the one at The Edge at Lowry, which was noticed by the country’s incoming border czar.

    “What’s lacking is an ICE person standing next to him shoulder to shoulder. He’s talking the talk but let’s hope he walks the walk and hands these people to ice when he’s done with them. Because we can remove them not only from the community but the country,” Incoming Border Czar Tom Homan said.

    “APD investigators contacted Homeland Security Investigations and ICE – ERO to assist with our criminal investigation of the violent incident that occurred Monday night into early Tuesday morning. The primary role of our federal partners was to assist with the identification of the suspects involved in the crime and their associates,” an APD spokesperson said.

    A spokesperson for ICE told FOX31 the 16 people under arrest will go through removal hearings. The question now is whether they will be charged in the kidnapping torture case and be transferred to state custody.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/advocacy-group-concerned-over-joint-aurora-police-ice-operation/ar-AA1wc1ut

    1. I live in Arapahoe County.

       APD can do whatever the f* they want as far as I’m concerned.

       Deport them ALL.

       All of them. Nobody wants you here (except Denver, which is a geographic concentration of virtue signals pretending to be a city).

    2. Advocacy group concerned over joint Aurora police, ICE operation

       Everyone else is concerned by how the Tren De Aragua gang is spreading like a cockroach infestation.

19. Escondido medical office building to be converted into apartments

    A nearly vacant office building that once housed medical practices near the former site of Palomar Hospital will be converted into a 21-unit residential apartment complex

    The 19,000-square-foot building, located on a 0.69-acre site at 240 S. Hickory Street, primarily served low-intensity medical offices while the hospital was nearby.

    Darshan Patel owns the building and has been planning the conversion for several years. He purchased the property in 2020, intending to turn it into apartments, but kept it as a medical office while it remained fully leased.

    Patel said the conversion would also help curb criminal activity on the site, citing break-ins, signs of unhoused people staying in the building, and other issues.

    https://thecoastnews.com/escondido-medical-office-building-to-be-converted-into-apartments/

    1. Two of my kids were born at the old Palomar hospital. I read that the move happened in 2012. I wonder why it moved? It didn’t seem derelict or anything of the sort back in the day. Moving and demolishing it seems like a colossal waste of money.

20. Homeless camp’s return in Ballard sparks renewed safety concerns among residents

    The return of a homeless camp to a Seattle neighborhood is raising crime and safety concerns, but few neighbors are surprised that the RVs, trash, and drug dealing are back.

    About a dozen recreational vehicles, as well as a few cars, are lined up on the streets surrounding the Office Max on NW Leary Way in Ballard. Seattle has a 72-hour time limit on street parking but people in the area said the homeless have been in place for more than a week and a half and many are uneasy with what they see.

    “I feel less and less safe coming around here,” said Megan, who didn’t want her last name used. “There is loads of trash. There’s loads of food. There’s loads of drugs. There are needles everywhere.”

    Sean, who works nearby and also wanted his last name withheld, said every morning he shows up for work there are fires in the parking lot.

    “It’s hurting everybody. Businesses and residents,” Sean said. “Just a lot of traffic coming through the area, a lot of unnecessary hand-to-hand transactions, especially with that RV right there.”

    Bruce Drager, who does homeless advocacy work and previously founded Greenlake Homeless Advocates, was checking in with the people who live in RVs along Leary Way on Monday. Drager said city policies to clear out these encampments are only perpetuating the problems.

    “You can’t just keep sweeping them around from one spot to the next because then you’re just going to move the drug use,” Drager said. “That’s what they are hoping to do is appease the public enough, mollify them enough by just moving them rapidly enough that any one area doesn’t get inundated for a protracted period of time, and that’s sort of the game they play.”

    Others have seen the pattern as well. “They’ve been back for about a week and a half now and they will probably clear them out in another week, but then they will come back,” Sean said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/homeless-camps-return-in-ballard-sparks-renewed-safety-concerns-among-residents/ar-AA1vYv4F

    1. I wonder at what point will Narcan no longer be handed out like candy in those camps?

21. Las Vegas homeowners concerned over homeless encampment, fires starting behind properties

    Concerns are growing for residents of a brand-new housing development in west Las Vegas.

    A homeless encampment has taken over an empty lot behind the new builds, making homeowners fearful about safety and potential property damage.

    “At night there are massive bonfires, like when I wake up at 1:30 in the morning to get water or whatever, I look out the window and there’s just massive fires,” one homeowner told Channel 13.

    The neighborhood, located near Rancho Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard, shares a wall with an empty lot.

    Residents say when the temperatures dropped, fire pits and makeshift heaters popped up all over the plot of land where dozens of homeless people live.

    “My concern is that it could burn down a whole neighborhood,” another resident said.

    Some of the fires have burned so close to the houses, they’ve left marks on the walls. Another concern is break-ins. Recently, someone managed to get inside a house on the street by breaking down the back door.

    https://www.ktnv.com/news/las-vegas-homeowners-concerned-over-homeless-encampment-fires-starting-behind-properties

22. Trudeau won’t step down over Christmas, Freeland considers vying for Liberal leadership, sources say

    On Saturday, a large number of MPs in the Ontario Liberal caucus privately expressed their desire for Mr. Trudeau to resign, and more organizing meetings are expected as many in the Prime Minister’s caucus grow ever more impatient.

    New Brunswick Liberal MP René Arseneault said Mr. Trudeau does not have the luxury of time. In an interview with The Globe on Sunday, he urged the Prime Minister to make a swift decision.

    “He cannot wait, he has to address Canadians and talk about what happened and be clear about his intentions,” Mr. Arseneault said, referring to Ms. Freeland’s shock resignation last week.

    “He needs to announce now that he will resign and put in place as smooth, logical and practical a process as possible to find a new leader for the Liberal Party and for Canada to face the United States at the end of January,” he said. “We don’t have time; we are in a minority government.”

    A leadership race would fall at a precarious time for the Liberals. On Friday, the government lost the support of the NDP – the last opposition party that Mr. Trudeau could reliably turn to, in order to get his agenda through the House.

    Ms. Freeland, who just this summer was viewed by many in Liberal circles as part of the minority government’s problem, is now getting private and public backing for her to take over the top job.

    Toronto MP Yvan Baker, who in October called for a secret caucus vote on Mr. Trudeau’s future and last week publicly called for the Prime Minister to resign, said in a Sunday interview that he hoped for a speedy decision.

    “My view is the sooner the Prime Minister announces that he is stepping down, the better,” Mr. Baker said. “The sooner he makes the decision to step down, the more time we will have for a leadership process to elect the strongest possible leader and for the new leader to earn the support of Canadians.”

    Despite its leadership turmoil, the Liberal Party on Sunday released what it called its first television ad of the 2025 campaign. The one-minute video attacks Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and says he plans to cut Liberal social programs like child care. Notably, the ad makes no mention of who the party’s leader will be in the next federal campaign and makes no mention of Mr. Trudeau at all.

    Meanwhile, on Fox News, Mr. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said her boss is racking up “Trump wins” before he’s taken office. She mentions Canada.

    On Canada, she said: “You see Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago in about 15 minutes when President Trump threatened tariffs. They just unveiled a billion-dollar border plan to secure our northern border.”

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-justin-trudeau-not-resigning-stepping-down-over-christmas-holidays/

    1. He needs to announce now that he will resign

       They are going to have to drag him away, kicking and screaming. I wonder what his WEF handlers are telling him to do?

23. Forgotten in the cannabis crash is how the industry is a Canadian success story

    Forgotten in the midst of the 2020 cannabis stock market meltdown is the production, employment and real estate boom that emerged from the end of marijuana prohibition in Canada. When the government acted boldly to legalize recreational cannabis on Oct. 17, 2018, Canadian entrepreneurs steered 16 homegrown startups to valuations of more than $1-billion each. These companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars around the world (but mostly in Canada) to build greenhouses, lighting systems, million-dollar cannabis-storage vaults, and grew thousands of tonnes of a hot new agricultural product.

    Canada, it’s been said, doesn’t make stuff any more. Labour productivity in construction is at a 30-year low and our business sector hasn’t expanded since 2019. We’re getting killed by the United States in the goods sector and stagnation might already be causing deterioration in Canadian public services. But legal marijuana showed Canadian productivity can blossom.

    Cannabis is often viewed as a failed business story. Indeed, companies – and investors – lost millions of dollars in the boom, although bankruptcies in the sector slowed to a handful in 2023. The industry is nevertheless an example of Canadian might, when the government and business banded together to do something that hadn’t been attempted anywhere in the world. We raised capital and deployed it, building an industry that still produces the best, cleanest, most highly regulated and consistent cannabis in the world.

    “We didn’t set out to say, ‘Oh, I’m from Canada, can I please come in sixth?’” Canopy Growth founder Bruce Linton, who secured $5-billion in funding from Constellation Brands, told me. Canopy’s valuation reached $22-billion in 2018 and the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based company has operations in Germany, Australia and Peru.

    Marijuana lost Canadian retail investors billions and attracted bad actors as big, fast money always does. But it showed Canada doesn’t lack gumption, chutzpah or know-how. We need the next big opportunity to ramp up Canadian productivity. Something like legal cannabis, incentivizing Canadian business to light a fuse.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-forgotten-in-the-cannabis-crash-is-how-the-industry-is-a-canadian/

24. The U.S. economy’s trust deficit

    While official sources and the media highlight strong consumer-spending and jobs data in the United States, or tout high U.S. stock-market valuations, more than three-quarters of Americans view economic conditions as poor (36%) or fair (41%). This disconnect between performance and perception can have far-reaching consequences; it already helped to propel Donald Trump to victory in last month’s presidential election. So, what is causing it?

    Where personal verification is impractical or impossible, we rely on informational intermediaries, including the traditional media, government, or experts, such as climate scientists. In our digital age, social-media platforms and online sources have also claimed a prominent position in our information ecosystems.

    But if these intermediaries are to close information gaps, they must be trustworthy — and Americans are not convinced that they are. A 2023 Gallup poll showed that faith in institutions, from media to government, had reached historic lows in the U.S., with only 18% of respondents expressing confidence in newspapers, 14% in television news, and 8% in Congress.

    Why don’t Americans trust the institutions that are supposed to be helping to close information gaps? Rosy news about the economy’s performance that fails to account for people’s pocketbook realities might be part of the answer.

    Income-distribution data can help shed light on these realities. The 2008 global financial crisis — which began with the collapse of a housing bubble — dealt a major blow to the balance sheets of the bottom 50% of households. In 2010, this group accounted for just 0.7% of total household net worth. A partial recovery followed, but the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent surge in inflation, which spurred the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, produced new headwinds. More than a quarter of U.S. households now spend more than 95% of their income on necessities, leaving them vulnerable to even mild shocks and making wealth-building all but impossible.

    This year, total U.S. household net worth stood at $154 trillion, with the bottom 50% of the distribution accounting for $3.8 trillion — just 2.5% of the total. That works out to $58,000, on average, for some 66 million U.S. households, with many owning much less. The top 10% hold two-thirds of all U.S. household wealth, and the bottom 90% share the remaining one-third.

    It is not difficult to understand why Americans might be mistrustful of those delivering a rosy economic narrative that does not correspond with their experience. Even when media outlets do highlight the challenging economic conditions many Americans face, their reports are not translated into policies and actions that make a significant difference. This has been true for at least two decades, and undermines confidence in the system as a whole. At a certain point, people may start assuming that traditional institutions are either lying or clueless.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/the-us-economy-s-trust-deficit/ar-AA1wjpdJ

    1. “While official sources and the media highlight strong consumer-spending and jobs data in the United States, or tout high U.S. stock-market valuations, more than three-quarters of Americans view economic conditions as poor (36%) or fair (41%).”

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi9wvxJ7CUU
       Yes, We’re In A Bubble & Bubbles End Badly | Ted Oakley [Interview Transcript]

       Adam Taggart | Thoughtful Money®
       112K subscribers
       37,103 views Premiered Dec 17, 2024

       35:29
       “…and I think people forget about this but you know in the last in especially in the last seven or eight years um the stock market is the economy it’s not the reverse and I think I don’t I don’t know of another time in recent 70y year history I’ll put it that way where the stock market was the entire economy if the stock market breaks the economy breaks period everything’s hung up on it I can get gave you so many examples…”

       – .gov, including the Fed targeted asset price inflation following the GFC in 2008-2009. This accelerated wealth and income inequality while squeezing out the middle class.
       – It’s a bifurcated, K-shaped economy. The wealth divide continues to widen.

       https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110307372.html

       What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability
       By Ben S. Bernanke
       Thursday, November 4, 2010

       “The FOMC intends to buy an additional $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by mid-2011 and will continue to reinvest repayments of principal on its holdings of securities, as it has been doing since August.”

       “This approach eased financial conditions in the past and, so far, looks to be effective again. Stock prices rose and long-term interest rates fell when investors began to anticipate the most recent action. Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance. Lower corporate bond rates will encourage investment. And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes and profits that, in a virtuous circle, will further support economic expansion.“

       – All they did was blow another – bigger – asset bubble, but asset bubbles always burst, and the bigger the boom, the bigger the bust. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the rug pull will be on Trump’s watch…

25. Do you fear a future collapse in Treasury yields that nobody could have seen coming?

    1. Federal Reserve
       Outside the Box
       Opinion: The coming global interest-rate collapse will force four Fed-rate cuts in 2025
       Economic pain worldwide will trigger capital flight to U.S. Treasurys, driving down those yields, investment manager Louis Navellier says. The Fed will follow.
       By Louis Navellier
       Published: Dec. 23, 2024 at 7:35 a.m. ET
       …
       https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-coming-global-interest-rate-collapse-will-force-four-fed-rate-cuts-in-2025-fe5713b1

    2. Economy
       The probability of a US recession in 2025 is 0%, according to a top economist. Here’s what to worry about instead.
       Matthew Fox Dec 23, 2024, 8:44 AM GMT-7
       …
       https://www.businessinsider.com/economy-us-recession-2025-outlook-zero-percent-chance-worry-about-2024-12

    3. Streetwise
       Is This Wildly Overvalued Stock Market Doomed? Yes, but Maybe Not Yet
       History shows no link between nosebleed valuations like today’s and next year’s returns. Expensive stocks can always get pricier.
       By James Mackintosh
       Updated Dec. 6, 2024 12:05 am ET
       …
       https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/stock-market-overvalued-forecasts-2025-e073e1d4

26. The Container Store has filed for bankruptcy.

    Paul Krugman: “Muh best economy ever!”

    1. The Container store is sort-of great. I don’t think I’ve gone in there and not found what I was looking for. But it was PRICEY. Very pricey.

       1. But it was PRICEY. Very pricey.

          A problem with many retailers.

          I have mentioned that I like stuff from Duluth Trading. Good quality stuff, but very pricey when it’s not on sale. I did buy some stuff recently at their 50% off year end sale, and even then it wasn’t cheap. They seemed to have a lot of stuff at 50% off. I wonder if their sales have been in the dumpster.

          1. They likely loaded-up on cheap debt, and then 7% happened.

          2. I like stuff from Duluth Trading.
             I do too but yeah, kind of expensive, plus now I mostly am wearing all my old cr@p until it falls apart.

27. Healey also called on Congress and the incoming 47 administration to try again to pass reform of the immigration laws and border security.

    No need for reform, comprehensive or otherwise, libbies. No need to “have a conversation.” 47 already had that conversation up and down the campaign trail, and the voters agreed with him. And no need for any new laws. The laws are already on the books, and 47 has the balls to enforce them.

    1. The laws are already on the books

       This.

       A relative asked me “why isn’t there a law against hiring illegals?” I reminded her that there are plenty of laws, but the the FJB regime refused to enforce them, at least in certain business sectors. If you are offered a job where I work you will need to fill out a form I-9 and provide documentation to prove you have the legal right to work in the USA.

28. What is it about Corporate and banking capture of the Government and institutions that isn’t clear at this point.

    That’s why everything is so dysfunctional, so insane and just plain fraudulent.

29. Sebastian Zapeta-Calil ID’d as illegal migrant accused of setting woman on fire riding NYC subway

    New York Post

    1 hour ago

    The illegal Guatemalan migrant accused of torching a sleeping woman on a Brooklyn subway train was hit with murder and arson charges Monday — as the feds identified him as Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, who snuck back into the US after being deported.

    Police charged Zapeta-Calil, 33, with first- and second-degree murder, and arson after he was picked up Sunday in the gruesome slaying, law enforcement sources told The Post.

    Authorities had been awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine what charges would be lodged — but the process is complicated by the condition of the victim’s body, which was badly scorched in the incident, sources said.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkTuMS7qSkk

    1 minute.

30. ‘Healey had a message for the handful of Massachusetts communities that designate themselves as ‘sanctuary’ cities for immigrants. ‘We are not a sanctuary state. If you come here, there is not housing here, and I think that’s been effective in changing the trajectory of [migration to Massachusetts],’ Healey said. ‘I don’t really understand what that terminology means in practice, because I guess I come to this also as a former prosecutor and Attorney General. I can tell you that when it comes to criminal investigations of violent crime, of drug trafficking, gun trafficking, human trafficking, today, and this has always been the case, local law enforcement, state law enforcement, working with federal law enforcement, will continue to do that work’

    So called sanctuary cities were always a conflict in laws that couldn’t stand. So it broke down enough that some have to buckle and enforce. It’s the same with the legalized hard drugs.

31. ‘Eventually the central bank stepped up instead, injecting more than 3 trillion yuan of liquidity between 2015 to 2020 to effectively subsidise the ‘destocking’ of new apartments. Ironically that move helped to inflate the property bubble, which eventually burst in 2020 and left behind a much larger property mess. In 2025, the Ministry of Finance will need to wield a big mop to clean it up’

    It is different this time.

    1. There’s always a bailout in waiting to encourage the next wave of government sponsored risk asset gambling activity.

32. Are bad Zestimates screwing up home sales in your area?

    1. Discourse Real Estate
       Our Zestimate obsession
       Zillow’s price estimates are screwing up homebuying — but Americans love them

       A house in a whirlpool of dollar signs and Zillow logos

       Alvaro Dominguez for BI
       James Rodriguez
       Dec 18, 2024, 2:03 AM GMT-7

       When Zillow debuted in 2006, the fledgling site bore little resemblance to the real-estate behemoth it is now. There were no options to find an agent, get a mortgage, or request a tour — the search portal couldn’t even tell you which homes were actually for sale. There was, however, the Zestimate: a “free, unbiased valuation” for 40 million houses around the US, based on a proprietary algorithm. Half the single-family homes in America suddenly had a dollar figure attached to them, and anyone could take a peek. Zillow’s site crashed within hours as a million people raced to ogle at the results.

       The initial rush was a sign of things to come. Nowadays, the Zestimate is arguably the most popular — and polarizing — number in real estate. An entire generation of homeowners doesn’t know life without the algorithm; some obsessively track its output as they would a stock portfolio or the price of bitcoin. By the time a seller hires a real-estate agent, there’s a good chance they’ve already consulted the digital oracle. For anyone with even a passing interest in the housing market, the Zestimate is a breezy way to take the temperature. Keep tabs on mortgage rates all you want, but they can’t tell you that your house has appreciated 20% over the past year, or that your annoying coworker’s property is worth more than yours.

       Many industry insiders, however, regard the number as a starting point at best and dangerously misguided at worst. Real-estate agents recount arguments with sellers who reject their pricing advice, choosing instead to take the Zestimate as the word of God. One meme likens its disciples to adults who still believe in Santa. Zillow itself lost hundreds of millions of dollars during the pandemic when it relied on its algorithm to buy homes at what turned out to be inflated prices, part of an ill-fated attempt to flip homes at scale.

       The Zestimate is just one of a slew of automated valuation models that are increasingly used by banks, investors, and laypeople to estimate the value of homes. No other model, however, has wormed its way into our culture like the Zestimate. The model, like other consumer-facing AVMs, is prone to errors that render it more of an amusement than a serious pricing tool. But while the algo’s price-guessing skills may be suspect, it’s undeniably elite at one thing: luring people to Zillow-dot-com.

       The Zestimate is both everywhere and an enigma. About 104 million homes, or 71% of the US housing stock, have a little dollar figure hovering above them on Zillow’s website. One of them is the house in Austin where I was raised until the age of 10. It’s not for sale, but right underneath the address, in bold, is the Zestimate. Next to it is a “Rent Zestimate,” or the amount the owner could probably charge a tenant each month. You can click to see a graph of its Zestimate over the past decade — the Zillow-fied value of my childhood home rose a staggering 72% from May 2020 to its peak in May 2022 but has since dropped 24% from that top tick thanks to the chill running through the Austin market. In just the past 30 days, the Zestimate has dropped by $4,455. Ouch.

       Just how accurate are those numbers, though? Until the house actually trades hands, it’s impossible to say. Zillow’s own explanation of the methodology, and its outcomes, can be misleading. The model, the company says, is based on thousands of data points from public sources like county records, tax documents, and multiple listing services — local databases used by real-estate agents where most homes are advertised for sale. Zillow’s formula also incorporates user-submitted info: If you get a fancy new kitchen, for example, your Zestimate might see a nice bump if you let the company know. Zillow makes sure to note that the Zestimate can’t replace an actual appraisal, but articles on its website also hail the tool as a “powerful starting point in determining a home’s value” and “generally quite accurate.” The median error rate for on-market homes is just 2.4%, per the company’s website, while the median error rate for off-market homes is 7.49%. Not bad, you might think.

       When you think of the Zestimate, for many, it gives a false anchor for what the value actually is.

       But that’s where things get sticky. By definition, half of homes sell within the median error rate, e.g., within 2.4% of the Zestimate in either direction for on-market homes. But the other half don’t, and Zillow doesn’t offer many details on how bad those misses are. And while the Zestimate is appealing because it attempts to measure what a house is worth even when it’s not for sale, it becomes much more accurate when a house actually hits the market. That’s because it’s leaning on actual humans, not computers, to do a lot of the grunt work. When somebody lists their house for sale, the Zestimate will adjust to include all the new seller-provided info: new photos, details on recent renovations, and, most importantly, the list price. The Zestimate keeps adjusting until the house actually sells. At that point, the difference between the sale price and the latest Zestimate is used to calculate the on-market error rate, which, again, is pretty good: In Austin, for instance, a little more than 94% of on-market homes end up selling for within 10% of the last Zestimate before the deal goes through. But Zillow also keeps a second Zestimate humming in the background, one that never sees the light of day. This version doesn’t factor in the list price — it’s carrying on as if the house never went up for sale at all. Instead, it’s used to calculate the “off-market” error rate. When the house sells, the difference between the final price and this shadow algorithm reveals an error rate that’s much less satisfactory: In Austin, only about 66% of these “off-market Zestimates” come within 10% of the actual sale price. In Atlanta, it’s 65%; Chicago, 58%; Nashville, 63%; Seattle, 69%. At today’s median home price of $420,000, a 10% error would mean a difference of more than $40,000.

       Without sellers spoonfeeding Zillow the most crucial piece of information — the list price — the Zestimate is hamstrung. It’s a lot easier to estimate what a home will sell for once the sellers broadcast, “Hey, this is the price we’re trying to sell for.” Because the vast majority of sellers work with an agent, the list price is also usually based on that agent’s knowledge of the local market, the finer details of the house, and comparable sales in the area. This September, per Zillow’s own data, the typical home sold for 99.8% of the list price — almost exactly spot on. That may not always be the case, but the list price is generally a good indicator of the sale figure down the line. For a computer model of home prices, it’s basically the prized data point. In the world of AVMs, models that achieve success by fitting their results to list prices are deemed “springy” or “bouncy” — like a ball tethered to a string, they won’t stray too far. Several people I talked to for this story say they’ve seen this in action with Zillow’s model: A seller lists a home and asks for a number significantly different from the Zestimate, and then watches as the Zestimate moves within a respectable distance of that list price anyway. Zillow itself makes no secret of the fact that it leans on the list price to arrive at its own estimate.
       …
       https://www.businessinsider.com/is-my-zestimate-accurate-home-prices-obsession-zillow-algorithm-homeowner-2024-12

33. Are mortgage rates supposed to go up or down when the Fed reduces their policy rate?

    1. Yahoo Finance
       Bloomberg
       Bond Traders Face 2025 Amid Most Agonizing Easing in Decades
       Ye Xie, Michael Mackenzie and Liz Capo McCormick
       Mon, December 23, 2024 at 8:07 AM EST 7 min read
       Not a typical dating platform
       Secretmeet Ad

       (Bloomberg) —
       Bond traders have rarely suffered so much from a Federal Reserve easing cycle. Now they fear 2025 threatens more of the same.

       US 10-year yields have climbed more than three-quarters of a percentage point since central bankers started slashing benchmark interest rates in September. It’s a counterintuitive, loss-inducing response, marking the biggest jump in the first three months of a rate-cutting cycle since 1989. Yields were higher on Monday, with the benchmark 10-year rate up about two basis points to 4.54%.

       Last week, even as the Fed delivered a third consecutive rate cut, 10-year Treasury yields surged to a seven-month high after policymakers led by Chair Jerome Powell signaled that they are prepared to slow the pace of monetary easing considerably next year.

       “Treasuries repriced to the notion of higher for longer and a more hawkish Fed,” said Sean Simko, global head of fixed-income portfolio management at SEI Investments Co. He sees the trend continuing, led by higher long-term yields.

       Rising yields underscore how unique this economic and monetary cycle has been. Despite elevated borrowing costs, a resilient economy has kept inflation stubbornly above the Fed’s target, forcing traders to unwind bets for aggressive cuts and abandon hopes for a broad-based rally in bonds. After a year of sharp ups and downs, traders are now staring down another year of disappointment, with Treasuries as a whole barely breaking even.

       The good news is that a popular strategy that has worked well during past easing cycles has gained renewed momentum. The trade, known as a curve steepener, is a wager that Fed-sensitive short-term Treasuries would outperform their longer-term counterparts — which they generally have of late.
       …
       https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bond-traders-turn-2025-amid-165341965.html

    2. Mortgage Rates Grow Again | Today, Dec. 23, 2024
       By: Paul Centopani
       December 23, 2024 – 8 min read
       Today’s mortgage rates

       Mortgage rates picked up where they left off last week and kept climbing this morning.
       …
       https://themortgagereports.com/mortgage-rates-now/mortgage-rates-today-dec-23-2024

34. End Wokeness
    @EndWokeness

    This is the best video you’ll see today:

    Repeat shoplifters in California learn the hard way that Prop. 36 is now in effect.

    Watch until the end.

    10:00 AM · Dec 23, 2024

    https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1871209389841137738

35. 😁👍

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