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Many Of Them Are In Really Tough Situations, They’re Living Hand To Mouth

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “‘We’ve been seeing outflow from Manhattan into Connecticut, and it has been crazy,’ said Cliff Smith, managing partner with The Agency in New Canaan, Connecticut. ‘Frankly, everyone is overpaying now, but it’s a personal decision.'”

“But it may be worthwhile to bid above asking price if you plan to keep the home for many years, as the odds are good that its value will appreciate over a long period of time. ‘Prices are always increasing,’ said Manuel Grosskopf, developer of The Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sunny Isles Beach. ‘If it’s something you like in your price range, you should immediately act on it, because based on the last 20 years, eventually the property is going to be worth more.'”

“South Korea’s Meritz Securities Co. is at high risk of incurring losses from its $350 million lending on a luxury condominium tower in Manhattan, New York, after its developer has been several months behind on interest payments on the loan. In February 2020, Meritz provided a $350 million loan to the developer of The Centrale, collateralized on the unsold units of the 63-story residential tower in Midtown East of Manhattan. The tower consists of 124 condo residences and retail space on the lower level. At the time of the investment, most of the condo units were unsold.”

“But the global pandemic and US property tax changes have put a dent in the US high-end residency market, despite the price of The Centrale condos being halved from up to $4 million per unit. In the worst-case scenario, Meritz’s losses from the lending could amount to several hundreds of million dollars, according to the sources. ‘We tended to believe large buildings involving a global real estate company or a famous developer, or located in Manhattan, New York or Las Vegas were safe assets. But that tendency led to poor investments,’ said one of the sources.”

“A palatial penthouse once bought with dirty money by a crooked Venezuelan mogul, who then sold it to a Qatari royal, is back on the market. And it should come as no surprise that it’s selling at a loss — asking $8.49 million, when the royal bought it for $8.6 million in 2018.”

“Tiffany Konyen is a student at the California Institute of Integral Studies in the anthropology and social change department, where she’s researching debt and indebtedness. She separately helps oversee the Bay Area Debt Collective chapter. She believes half-measures aren’t going to fly for large swaths of the population that have grown accustomed to finally saving money during the pandemic due to the moratoriums.”

“‘People have started using that money in other ways,’ she says, ‘so what’s going to happen to them? Is there going to be a whole other wave of foreclosures?'”

“The Foreclosure Prevention and Mortgage Relief Program is a grant for families in danger of losing their home, or owners of rental units who are behind their payments in LA County. ‘You don’t have to be ashamed to ask for help, we are here to help you. Typically, families of color have fewer resources to avoid losing their homes and property. This program will be a lifesaver for many on the verge of losing their home,’ said Rafael Carbajal, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Business and Consumer Services.”

“Home prices are running up so fast in some parts of Canada that valuations set by appraisers are not keeping pace, putting some buyers and mortgage lenders in a bind. The gulf between current and past prices can be wide. Bob Clarke, a broker at Clarke Muskoka Realty who deals in luxury homes and cottages north of Toronto, recently estimated one property would fetch more than $2-million. Another agent suggested a $3.5-million price tag. The home sold for $3.3-million, Mr. Clarke said.”

“When he called his appraiser and asked, ‘Am I crazy?’ he learned that the appraiser had declined to evaluate the property, telling the seller the valuation and selling price ‘won’t even start with the same first number. It won’t be close.'”

“Vancouver real estate agent Alex Yao said he is starting to see some signs of ‘buyer fatigue’ now compared to the first quarter of the year when ‘things were selling at prices we couldn’t even calculate’ as some houses sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars over their asking price. Yao heard one case about sellers who “got a really great offer.” In the end, he said, the deal fell through because the banks couldn’t appraise the home at such a high price. ‘It’s not just a matter of ‘we’ll pay $100,000 over the asking price.’ The banks have to calculate a value because they are representing the lenders,’ he said.”

“Meanwhile, the Angus Reid poll has found 40 per cent of Canadians hope housing prices will continue rising, while 39 per cent hope for a fall. The rocketing market is prompting investors and economists to talk about what can temper the frenzy. When it comes to bigger picture attitudes, ‘people are happy for things to stay level. They generally don’t want to see huge price increases. Separately, people who are homeowners and plan all their lives to own their home and use it as part of their retirement don’t want radical intervention that is going to wreck 30 years of planning.'”

“Campaigners fear plans for new homes in Archway will be abandoned amid concerns about the changing nature of the housing market in London. It is said the population in the capital has decreased by 10 per cent. Kate Calvert from the Better Archway Forum said: ‘There is an oversupply of small flats which are not selling or at least not at the prices that people were expecting. This really doesn’t look like a good idea, particularly as you can build all the social housing units for half the cost. They are hoping that the London housing market is going to hold up and it really is not clear that it is going to.'”

“Regionally, Walvis Bay continues to bear the brunt of rental contractions, recorded at -42.2% y/y followed by Oshakati (-30.9 y/y), Ondangwa (26.8% y/y), Rundu (-20.2%), Swakopmund (-16.7% y/y), Okahandja (-5.8% y/y) and Windhoek (-2.1% y/y). The deteriorating demand for higher-priced properties means that landlords are seemingly left with little choice but to curb their expectations when setting their asking price. Many short-term and leisure rental properties moved onto the long-term rental market in 2020, after a sharp decline in tourism activity potentially due to Covid-19 induced travel restrictions.”

“‘This exit of tenants from the rental market means an additional oversupply of rental properties to the already overstocked pool, thereby exerting further downward pressure on the rental prices,’ explained Frans Uusiku, FNB Market Research Manager.”

“The increasing speculation in the real estate market is causing concerns about a possible bubble. Land prices in many places have risen by an average of 10 percent in the last two months, though in some places they have even doubled or tripled, according to the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VAR). NEU analysts said the credit growth helped enterprises survive the pandemic, rather than expand. ‘Skyrocketing stock and land prices in 2020 were signs of a market bubble. The ratio of money supply growth to GDP growth was nearly 200 percent. It means more money was entering the system than the real economy could absorb.'”

“Landlords in financial strife across Melbourne are rushing to sell their investments as new rental laws that require minimum standards for properties come into effect. Stockdale & Leggo Victoria CEO Charlotte Pascoe said there had already been a rush of landlords from the outer-eastern suburbs looking to sell up over the past few days. ‘Our Langwarrin office has received 20 requests from landlords wanting to sell,’ Ms Pascoe said. ‘It’s just diabolical, it’s huge.'”

“Some landlords had struggled throughout COVID-19 without being able to collect rent or insurance for loss of rental and were now faced with spending extra to fix up their properties. ‘Many of them are in really tough situations, and people think because they are landlords they have a fancy car and lots of cash when they could be 100 per cent reliant on their rents to pay the mortgage,’ Ms Pascoe said. ‘They’re living hand to mouth.'”

This Post Has 104 Comments
  1. ‘Prices are always increasing’

    Sunny Isles Beach shacks have been sinking like a turd in a well for years. 50% or something.

    1. “…Prices are always increasing,’ said Manuel Grosskopf, developer of The Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sunny Isles Beach…”

      Another example of 1-dimensional thinking, this time by Manuel Grosskopf.

      What Manuel Grosskopf (and the REIConplex) won’t tell you is that holding costs, (most notoriously Property taxes), insurance, HOA, maintenance at the like keep increasing also.

      So, Manuel Grosskopf, where is the big win?

      1. Manny Grosskunt knows of what he speaks. Prices can never decline. Until they plummet. Acts as if 2008 plus period never happened. Ok boss.

  2. ‘a grant for families in danger of losing their home, or owners of rental units who are behind their payments in LA County. ‘You don’t have to be ashamed to ask for help’

    They aren’t ashamed Rafael. California loanowners are the whiniest bunch of on-their-knees beggars that ever existed.

  3. Tiffany Konyen is a student at the California Institute of Integral Studies in the anthropology and social change department, where she’s researching debt and indebtedness

    “social change department”? Say what???

    1. Looks like some kind of private college entirely for hippie majors. Tuition $10,000/semester. About 1500 students (total), 75% women.

      Undergraduate majors:
      BA in psychology
      BA in interdisciplinary studies

      Graduate majors:
      Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
      Anthropology and Social Change
      Applied psychology (taught in China in Mandarin)
      Asian Philosophies and Cultures
      Clinical psychology
      Community and Mental Health
      Drama Therapy
      East-West psychology
      Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion
      Expressive Arts Therapy
      Human Sexuality
      Integral and Transpersonal Psychology
      Integral Counseling psychology
      Integrative health studies
      Master of Fine Arts
      Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
      Somatic Psychology
      Transformative Leadership
      Transformative Studies
      Women’s Spirituality

      1. These are the kind of graduates that decide to have babies and let the husband pay-off the student loans.

        1. And then open up a “hobby business” for play, with his money, generally in a quaint downtown area where they can pretend to be successful.

      2. Only one major, Acupuncture…that will actually pay the bills. Everything else is a waste unless you get appointed as a diversity director or vp of equality or some shit like that.

    2. This is pretty funny:
      “People have started using that money in other ways,’ she says, ‘so what’s going to happen to them?”

      I dunno, maybe they need to stop spending that money “in other ways” and go back to paying rent?

    3. “Say what???”

      I don’t know whether it was that statement or the still frames from Hunter Biden’s Russian disinfo laptop that included a couple of prostitutes with Hunter, all neked in compromising positions on a bed along with what appeared to be a fairly disinterested and bored small dog that I saw on TV last night which jarred my memory and made me remember this song which I had blissfully forgotten many decades ago.

      https://youtu.be/G-xRMw0NyW0

        1. I don’t think these people are embarrassed a bit. They have no decency or honesty, including the big guy. Honest and decent people don’t steal elections.

  4. ‘In February 2020, Meritz provided a $350 million loan to the developer of The Centrale, collateralized on the unsold units of the 63-story residential tower in Midtown East of Manhattan. The tower consists of 124 condo residences and retail space on the lower level. At the time of the investment, most of the condo units were unsold’

    Inventory loans = QE looking for money heaven.

    ‘despite the price of The Centrale condos being halved from up to $4 million per unit’

    Half off is unrealistic…

    ‘We tended to believe large buildings involving a global real estate company or a famous developer, or located in Manhattan, New York or Las Vegas were safe assets. But that tendency led to poor investments’

    Strike one, two, three! Yer out!

    1. Imagine the speculators buying shacks in far flung locations right now, thinking that’s a sound investment. I’d rather have a multi-family in some downtown shithole, and I want that like I want a lobotomy. At least there are businesses and services there. I think the 2nd home markets are going to crash like we’ve never seen before. 80% off wouldn’t surprise me.

  5. ‘Frankly, everyone is overpaying now, but it’s a personal decision.’”

    Well…. this doozy ought to be examined….. and it will be.

    Mortgage and appraisal fraud is always a ‘personal decision’.

    1. My body. My Choice. I want to overpay for this crap shack and you cannot stop me.

    2. Nobody put a gun to these people’s heads and forced them to make regrettable mistakes.

  6. ‘When he called his appraiser and asked, ‘Am I crazy?’ he learned that the appraiser had declined to evaluate the property, telling the seller the valuation and selling price ‘won’t even start with the same first number. It won’t be close’

    Here’s what the media isn’t saying: sure, there are appraisers and lenders resisting this insanity. But there are obviously some who are taking the money and running. Right now, mortgage and appraisal fraud has run rampant in many cities. Couldn’t happen you say?

    March 26, 2020

    “As America heads into a deep recession, the $11 trillion residential-mortgage market is in crisis. Investors who buy home loans packaged into bonds are dumping even those with federal backing because of panic that millions might not make their payments. Yet one risky sector had started to show cracks long before the coronavirus pandemic sparked the worst financial meltdown in 12 years: the federal government’s largest affordable-housing program, whose lenient terms are geared toward marginal borrowers.”

    “As real estate prices soared in recent years, working-class adults everywhere have increasingly relied on mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration — and U.S. taxpayers. Since 2007, the FHA’s portfolio has tripled in value to more than $1.2 trillion, almost 11% of the market. While private lenders make these loans, they are packaged into Ginnie Mae bonds, common in mutual funds and pensions.”

    “Before Covid-19 started roiling China, a November FHA report found that 27% of borrowers last year spent more than half their incomes on debt, a level it describes as ‘unprecedented.’ The share of FHA loans souring in their first six months has doubled over the last three years to almost 1%.”

    “Not long ago, Alex Castillo drove his shiny black Infiniti SUV through an office park north of the San Antonio airport, along a busy seven-mile stretch of highway that loan officers call ‘Mortgage Row’ because of its abundance of small independent mortgage companies that dominate FHA lending. Castillo, who has the words ‘The Dream Starts Here’ stitched into his jacket, works for Pennsylvania-based American Residential Lending. Oddly, amid the pandemic, his business is booming. His customers locked in FHA mortgages after interest rates plunged this month — adding to federally backed mortgage debt.”

    “‘If the government tells me you’re good enough to get a loan, I have to trust and believe in the government,’ Castillo said. ‘Then we just hope and pray that the client doesn’t get foreclosed on.’”

    “In downtown San Antonio, scores of investors stood on a parched lawn beside the city’s historic granite-and-red-sandstone courthouse. It was the first Tuesday of February, the day of the foreclosure auction. Matt Badders, a San Antonio lawyer who represents lenders, auctioned off two houses. The failed mortgages remind him of the run-up to the financial crisis 12 years ago, when lending to customers with spotty credit nearly brought down the world’s financial system. ‘We’re almost back to 2007, when mortgage originators are waking people up on park benches, saying sign here,’ Badders said.”

    “At the auction, the crowd bid on 338 homes, a third with FHA mortgages, according to Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing Service. One house had dual master bedrooms, a game room and granite kitchen counters. It sold for $202,000 — $52,000 less than the homeowner borrowed only two years ago. The taxpayer-backed FHA insurance fund will take a loss.”

    “Dave Stevens, FHA commissioner under President Barack Obama and former chief executive officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said a recession will expose hidden risks in home lending. ‘This should be an alarm bell to policymakers,’ Stevens said. ‘Sometimes you get blinded by a good economy and suddenly look at it and see a bubble of defaults coming.’”

    “The federal government has decided it doesn’t want to pursue — and has asked a judge to dismiss — a lawsuit against Utah-based Academy Mortgage Corp. The judge refused. The suit claims the company’s staff would repeatedly feed information into an automated federal underwriting system, manipulating it until the computer gave the green light. ‘Decline is a curse word,’ Plaintiff Gwen Thrower, a former underwriter, quoted a manager as saying. ‘We don’t use it.’”

    http://housingbubble.blog/?p=3070

    1. Before Covid-19 started roiling China, a November FHA report found that 27% of borrowers last year spent more than half their incomes on debt, a level it describes as ‘unprecedented.’

      This only works if you are counting on a refi in a few years. Can you imagine paying 50% of your income for 10 years or longer – no way unless you get a big increase in income?

  7. ‘When it comes to bigger picture attitudes, ‘people are happy for things to stay level. They generally don’t want to see huge price increases. Separately, people who are homeowners and plan all their lives to own their home and use it as part of their retirement don’t want radical intervention that is going to wreck 30 years of planning’

    Yeah, radical intervention. The clowns running Canadias central bank cut interest rates three times in one month! Did away with the stress test, piled on other subprime goodies, and looked the other way on teaser rates skyrocketing. Then they have the nerve to say “we need the growth.” You ain’t fooling anyone.

  8. ‘Many of them are in really tough situations, and people think because they are landlords they have a fancy car and lots of cash’

    I wonder where they get this idea? Anyone?

    Bueller?

    ‘when they could be 100 per cent reliant on their rents to pay the mortgage…They’re living hand to mouth’

    Well it was cheaper than…oh never mind.

  9. From marketwatch:
    It’s time for a bitcoin ETF, Jan van Eck and Som Seif say
    Last Updated: April 8, 2021 at 2:49 p.m. ET
    By Andrea Riquier
    [image of golden ₿ coin against a background of gold bars of course]
    ————–
    “VanEck has filed with the SEC to launch a bitcoin ETF in the U.S., and Purpose launched such a fund in Canada in February. It has already gathered $1.2 billion in assets.

    ETFs have proven to be the most efficient way for investors to get exposure to different assets, Seif noted — particularly those that have historically been less straightforward to access, like gold. …Both panelists said they think bitcoin’s volatility will decline as access increases and as the industry passes more benchmarks, such as the Coinbase public offering.”
    ————–

    Oh please, DO IT. Start up a paper market, just like they did or precious metals.
    As of 2014, for every ounce of physical silver on earth, there are 250 ounces of paper silver in various investments and contracts.
    As of 2016, for every ounce of physical gold on earth, there are 550 ounces of paper gold in various investments and contracts.

    You can imagine what this is doing to the price of the metals. Imagine if there were 550 paper BTC contracts for every, uh, “real digital” (?) BTC. Michael Saylor would be begging on the street. (not that this is a bad thing)

  10. Let us join our hands and bow our heads and pray.

    “Dear God, Please help me to hate white people,”

    ‘Help Me Hate White People’: Entry in Bestselling Prayer Book Stokes Controversy

    BY NICOLE FALLERT ON
    4/8/21 AT 2:45 PM EDT

    Abook containing a prayer by a Black female author calling on God to “help me hate white people” is causing a lot of controversy.

    The book, A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal, was edited by Sarah Bessey and published in February and is available at major sellers such as Target, Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The passage in the book by Chanequa Walker-Barnes, “Prayer of a Weary Black Woman,” seeks spiritual guidance to stop “caring” about white people who inevitably perpetuate racism.

    “Dear God, Please help me to hate white people,” Walker-Barnes writes. “Or at least to want to hate them. At least, I want to stop caring about them, individually and collectively. I want to stop caring about their misguided, racist souls, to stop believing that they can be better, that they can stop being racist.”

    https://www.newsweek.com/help-me-hate-white-people-entry-bestselling-prayer-book-stokes-controversy-1582043

    1. It’s perfectly fine for black people to hate on white people.

      White people hating black people? That’s racis’, and a hate thought crime.

      1. It’s perfectly fine for black people to hate on white people.

        It’s even encouraged now.

        1. Hopefully I’ll be dead before this country goes full South Africa.

          And when whitey goes extinct, he’ll be taking the water and electricity with him.

          1. “And when whitey goes extinct, he’ll be taking the water and electricity with him.”

            Funny line , but so much underlying truth to the statement.
            There is a real concerted effort to demonize the White race by the Entities stroking the racist narrative. The true culprits creating a enemy to hate and blame for all the problems they caused by their looting and gutting of America. You got to punish these White people for what exactly? For White privilege , which is some ambiguous word that is meaningless. Whites have a culture rooted in a work ethic and merit based systems that also had religion as a value ingrained in the culture.

            I heard a Black female Doctor say words to the effect , ” Get all the privilege you can in life , whatever color you are, because that’s the whole idea ,to get ahead in life.”

          2. “Whites have a culture rooted in a work ethic and merit based systems that also had religion as a value ingrained in the culture.”

            A cursory observation: Anthropologists like Jared Diamond would argue that geography played a huge role in human development. White Europeans were forced to ameliorate their harsh winters through organization and planning for food and shelter, which ostensibly led to the region’s industrial revolution. But the white man’s husbanding of animals for agriculture and slaughter combined with sailing vessels also spread disease far and wide. Without medical science the white man would have never conquered the Tropic region.

    2. Civil war ended 156 years ago, and so did slavery.

      Segregation ended with Civil Rights Act and Brown vs. Board of Education, 56 years ago.

      Few deny that racism has negatively affected blacks economically and socially.

      However… Other minorities have been oppressed in the 1800 and 1900s. They have done okay. Blaming whites for most or all the ills blacks suffer today is false. Racism is not making individuals engage in personally destructive or criminal behavior. At some point, the black community has to urge its members to take responsibility for their actions and stop blaming whites for all that is bad in their community.

      Well-intentioned false narratives that obscure the truth don’t help anyone because they are false – don’t accurately describe reality. They’re like drugs – a brief pleasant sensation but with a heavy cost.

      Some of the big problems in the black community originate entirely from within the black community. And even if someone asserts that they don’t, it will still be individuals who must behave constructively to overcome them and make their lives better.

  11. ‘Frankly, everyone is overpaying now, but it’s a personal decision.’

    Sounds more like mass insanity. So long as everyone is doing stupid things, its perfectly fine to join the trend.

    1. … and don’t forget to stock up on ketchup. There’s a global shortage! 🤣🤣

    1. The Financial Times
      US Treasury bonds
      US government debt hit as analysts braced for $370bn in Treasury sales
      Investors worry that demand may be insufficient to smoothly digest a record month of auctions
      People walk past the New York Stock Exchange
      Lacklustre demand from foreign investors could tip the balance towards choppier trading, but some Wall Street executives are hoping higher levels of Treasury yields today compared with a few months ago will pique their interest
      Colby Smith in New York an hour ago

      US government bonds were hit by fresh selling on Friday, with analysts warning of further volatility ahead as the Treasury department seeks to offload more than $370bn of new securities over the next three weeks.

      Long-dated Treasury yields rose back towards recent highs, with the 10-year Treasury note trading 0.05 percentage points higher on Friday at 1.667 per cent.

      The abrupt move ruptured a brief calm that had settled over the $21tn market for US government debt in recent weeks, after the worst quarterly performance for long-dated Treasuries in more than four decades. Earlier this week, the benchmark 10-year yield hovered closer to 1.6 per cent.

    2. Economy
      U.S. producer prices surge in March
      Published Fri, Apr 9 2021 8:56 AM EDT
      Updated Fri, Apr 9 2021 9:12 AM EDT
      Reuters
      U.S. producer price index rose 1.0% in March, vs 0.5% increase expected

      U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in March, resulting in the largest annual gain in 9-1/2 years, fitting in with expectations for higher inflation as the economy reopens amid an improved public health environment and massive government funding.

      The producer price index for final demand jumped 1.0% last month after increasing 0.5% in February, the Labor Department said on Friday. In the 12 months through March, the PPI surged 4.2%. That was the biggest year-on-year rise since September 2011 and followed a 2.8% advance in February.

      1. so there are fixed contract pricing – it will more pronounced when this works its way through the supply chain.

        The index for prices of goods soared 1.7% in March from February, the biggest increase since the data series was started in 2009. Energy costs jumped 5.9% for the month. Within that, gasoline prices jumped 8.8%.

        The index for prices of services jumped 0.7%, the third month in a row of increases. These services include wholesaling of machinery and vehicles, which soared 6.7% in March from February, confirming the giant jumps in wholesale prices for used vehicles.

        Excluding prices of foods, energy, and trade services, the index jumped 0.6% for the month and was up 3.1% year-over-year.

  12. The yelling in the crowded theatre with things like “inflation!” and “Supply and demand!” is comedic anymore.

  13. Now that you know that contract law is at risk, and shut down after shut down could take place, if you want to be a landlord you better have a couple years of rents built up in case you renter stops paying.

    This is a new risk factor in real estate that should apply to people buying for their personnel residence also.
    But lending isn’t weighing the risk anymore like the good old days. Its either transferring the risk to the Government , or a creation of a bubble so real estate is turned into a ATM machine of drawing equity. Its Government bail outs when the bubble crashes to the lenders.

    All the Monopolies , Lenders and wealth creation Casinos have figured out how to get Government to be the Pawn , which means the people are the pawn because the relief comes from the tax coffers.

    Universities charged outrageous tuitions, than the loan goes to the government, while the Schools got the excessive profit.

    The point is that Government being involved in private industry to increase profits for that industry artificially, is not what the function of Government should be. But this is what happens when you get a Oligarchy Government, where the Monopolies are calling the shots.
    Its just not what the function of Government should ever of been and anything the Government touches gets screwed up.
    Who got the over 25 trillion in Government debt built up? Certainly didn’t go to building new roads and bridges, or to regular working US Citizens.
    When they bailed out the Banks, and ushered in the Communist Obama care, it was a portend of what was to come.
    Monopoly Corporation rule has got to be my worst nightmare , and its what’s creating all the insanity we are subjected to these days. The to big to fail have become the Government. The Medical Big Pharmacy Monopoly is the one that offends me the most.

  14. “Is there going to be a whole other wave of foreclosures?’”

    No there isn’t. There is going to be a galactic scale bailout of everyone involved to prevent deflation in the assets the banks are depending on. That’s just the way things work now.

    1. Right. Too-big-to-fail is alive and well, and ready to be trotted out the moment systemic risk rears its ugly head.

      Got moral hazard?

      1. The FED and bankers have to pinch themselves to make sure they’re not dreaming. They never imagined being allowed to do what they are now doing, completely unimpeded.

    2. That’s why the FED is buying all the MBS. They have no problem just carrying all that bad debt. There’s around $11 trillion in mortgage debt in the US. They think they can park all the bad debt on their balance sheet.

  15. Must say, cancel culture has been good to me.
    Last October Blue Shield put out a politically charged TV commercial which I found so offensive that I cancelled my policy and with the help of my insurance guy, found one that was $50 a month cheaper.
    When I heard that Coke weighed in on the Georgia voting law, my beloved Diet Coke got axed which now saves me $2.75 whenever I go to Baja Fresh for a taco. Not to mention the added heath benefit of not drinking it in the first place.
    Keep it coming azzhats, you’re just making my life better. Thanks.

    1. The latest estimates are over $100 billion lost by all parties involved. And the stock market didn’t even blink.

    2. “Hwang, an alumnus of famed hedge fund Tiger Management, took around $200 million in 2013 and turned it into a $20 billion net worth by betting successfully on technology stocks, Bloomberg said in the most detailed look at Archegos’ finances yet.”

      Was he lulled into complacency by the glitter of achievement?

      1. If shacks make you rich Johnny Depp would be the richest guy in Hollywood. Instead he’s broke.

        1. I went to a variety show (back when live music was still a thing) at the Ogden Theater: Public Enemy headlining with a lot of forgotten hip-hop one hit wonders from back in the day on stage.

          These people need money. And I bet a lot of them got f*x’d over on their record deal back in the 90’s. On stage as in yes you gets to see the song and dance and dance with them what brung you.

          Every day brings you one day closer to knowing the answers.

        1. On the board of the Clinton foundation. In other words, never had to really apply for a job.

    1. His family is saying there were no drugs involved and that the only drug he took was the covid vaccine 10 days prior…kinda like Hank Aaron and Marvin Hagler.

  16. The Biden claim that he is going to change the USA, is a change to all the Social Contracts that were relied on . So change like Commie programs, higher taxes , open borders, canceling benefits paid into for years are all at risk with this Monopoly Entities self serving invasion of government policy. I wouldn’t call that equity or predictable that it would happen.
    It’s pretty clear that a attack is being made on US Citizens for objecting to all these changes that are being proposed that do not represent the traditional America, capitalism , or the freedoms insured by the Constitution. No border control and Citizens have to pay for the welfare of illegals , and any adverse effects of this surge of people.

    Its what the Globalist Monopolies want , not the Majority Citizens in the USA. Its a treasonous betrayal to Citizens of the United States that expected their Country to be sovereign and protected. And where are all the excess jobs that would justify bringing in millions of people that can’t even speak the language.

    But what can you say about Entities that rigged the Election to take over the will of the majority.

  17. Found this great YouTube post from The Hill re: housing in the US. Click title above to see it or search YouTube for:

    Krystal Ball: The Next Housing CRISIS Is Here And The Villains Are Exactly Who You’d Expect

    A real peach that sold IN DC! 80 offers

    1. It’s generally a bunch of sh$t. Economic royalists? Permanent renter class? Same ol’ media take. The real story is the PTB sparked something they’ve lost control of.

      1. Nah it will fetch 1.5 mil easy.

        Crazy people crazy talk. Hard to say who is a shill in ‘dis town.

        1. I’m not shilling. In that area, 4 bedroom Minimalist Millenial Gray reno houses go for over a half mil. If it’s cute or the location is good, you can fetch a half mil for even 3 bedrooms. Do I think they should? Not really. But they do. Since you can’t be arsed to look things up yourself before calling me a shill, here are a couple comps:

          https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/221-Dale-Dr-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283634_zpid/

          https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2221-Luzerne-Ave-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37317579_zpid/

          https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/724-Richmond-Ave-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37278247_zpid/?

          https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2916-Wilton-Ave-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37279589_zpid/

    1. Older baby boomers caught all the breaks
      By John Waggoner, USA TODAY

      In a generation as sprawling as the baby boomers, you’re bound to notice some big differences. And the main difference is probably this: The older boomers, exemplified by the 62-year-olds who will start retiring this year, occupy a demographic sweet spot that most younger boomers can’t match.

      The first of the baby boom generation — those 79 million people born from 1946 through 1964 — are just starting to reach the age when they can tap Social Security.

      And those older ones got all the good toys:

      •Cheaper houses. A boomer born in 1946 who bought her home in 1976, at age 30, would have paid about $39,300, according to the Census Bureau. That’s equal to $145,200 now, adjusted for inflation. By contrast, a boomer born in 1964 who also bought his first house 30 years later would have paid $130,000, or $174,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars.

      •Better retirement benefits. Early boomers are more likely to have a traditional “defined-benefit” pension from their employer than younger boomers are, notes Ron Gebhardtsbauer, senior pension fellow for the American Academy of Actuaries. Unlike 401(k) plans, traditional pensions require no contributions from the employee; all money comes from their employer. Older boomers qualified for “great pensions at a young age,” he says, in addition to 401(k) accounts, which arrived later.

      About 39% of all private-sector employees were beneficiaries of traditional pension plans in 1980, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute; that figure fell to 18% by 2006, the last year for which figures are available.

      Traditional pensions guarantee a payment for life, even though the value of that pension typically diminishes because of inflation. But younger boomers generally have only 401(k) retirement savings plans. And they’re likely to live longer than older boomers, thereby facing a higher risk of running out of money before they die.

      •Superior investment returns. A boomer who started investing in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index 30 years ago would have received a 12.95% average annual return, according to Lipper. One who started investing 20 years ago would have earned an average 11.8% a year. The difference in return might not seem like much. But it’s huge over time. If you invested $100 a month in the S&P 500 starting 30 years ago, you’d have $329,000 now. If you started 20 years ago, you’d have $74,500. Sure, you’d have put in $12,000 less, but you’d need an average annual return of 14.4% for the next 10 years, or you’d need to put in a lot more than $100 a month, to catch up.

      •Better jobs. By the time younger boomers joined the workforce, their numerous older brothers and sisters had already filled many of the jobs, which meant that younger boomers had to work harder to find jobs.

      By contrast, when David Jones, 62, entered the workforce, he says, many of his co-workers were much older, and lots of entry-level positions were available.

      “I came in young, and in some ways, I was able to work my way up the ladder a little faster,” says Jones, a part-time professor at South University in Savannah, Ga.

      And, notes Susie Cooke (above, left), a 61-year-old retiree from Tampa, companies were more likely to provide their employees with good benefits when she first started working.

      “By the time I retired, workers were just another piece of property,” Cooke says.

      1. The older boomers, exemplified by the 62-year-olds who will start retiring this year

        Older Boomers are in their mid 70s?

        1. “Older Boomers are in their mid 70s?”

          Older baby boomers caught all the breaks.
          By John Waggoner, USA TODAY. January 22, 2008

      2. And your post is so true as to the the greater opportunities and benefits paid by the employer regarding earlier Baby Boomers.Higher taxes were paid but the ability to buy a house at a reasonable monthly payment was great.
        The cost of medical Insurance was so cheap, and usually a high percentage was paid by the employer.
        The only thing you can say is the earlier Boomers have more to pass down to their offspring if inflation doesn’t erode it away.
        But, I think the price of real estate, the gutting of jobs and manufacturing, costs of health care and higher education is a rip off compared to 1945 to 1980.People also saved more with good saving rates and didn’t go into debt like today.
        I believe during that period it was capitalism at its best.
        But lets get it right who/what screwed up this time period and created the conditions of today , that aren’t as favorable.

        1. “But lets get it right who/what screwed up this time period and created the conditions of today , that aren’t as favorable.”

          A cursory observation: This was the post WWII period where the U.S. had little industrial competition, few environmental regulations and institutionalized racism.

          1. rms.
            Don’t know how racism plays in this because with trillions spent in welfare, and affirmative action insuring jobs for minorities, the taxes were high , which is a minus .
            No competition from other Countries. That’s the whole idea to add tariffs so other Countries can’t take your jobs and manufacturing based . We are not a One World order.
            Few environmental regulations. That I agree with you on. Industries would of had to make some adjustments in that regard as time went on.

          2. “Don’t know how racism plays in this because with trillions spent in welfare, and affirmative action insuring jobs for minorities, the taxes were high , which is a minus .”

            LBJ’s Great Society programs were enacted in 1965 and took several years to get up to speed. The beneficiaries of these programs missed-out on the post WWII prosperity particularly in suburban home ownership that was “redlined.”

          3. Also, on the west coast there were no Jim Crow laws, so someone living out west had no idea of what was going on back east in the deep south.

      3. Aww, the poor later boomers. 🙄

        Try being a GenX. Never mind the jobs and benefits, we can’t even get a news article just for us. 😢

        1. My point always is, if those conditions were so favorable for the Earlier Baby Boomers to get ahead , than why not return to those conditions that made America so prosperous.
          This Country has morphed into Monopoly Rule, Corrupted Government, Commie Programs, Gutting of jobs and manufacturing, Wall Street Casinos and rigged bubble markets, Medical Tyranny, rigged elections, Open borders , fake monopoly news, and attack on US Citizens in their own Country , looting and law and order being turned inside out.

          Between 1945 & 1975 the balance of power was more favorable to the populations in the US until the Government created a Oligarchy and sold out the Country to a One World order / Global Monopoly rule . Communism in the US ushered in by a rigged election with Medical Tyranny .

          Return to Capitalism, not Monopoly rule by Global Corps and Creepy Billionaires who now have Government in their pocket. Return to all freedoms insured by the Constitution. Return to being a productive Country that is a Sovereign Country , that has jobs and a manufacturing base.

          1. “My point always is, if those conditions were so favorable for the Earlier Baby Boomers to get ahead , than why not return to those conditions that made America so prosperous.”

            Please see my reply, above. Thanks!

  18. LaurenChen today before she gets cancelled too
    Steven Crowder Did NOTHING Wrong – Knee On Neck & Potential LWC Ban?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdw7MPhyiHU

    Comment….If the restraint is that deadly, then crowder put his life on the line. These cowards would never put their lives on the line for anything.

  19. Colorado Dems want to spend billions on a train no one will ride

    https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/09/front-range-rail-district-proposal-colorado/

    The district would be overseen by a 14-member board that would have the power to ask voters to raise sales taxes by up to 8 cents on every $10 purchase to pay for the train.

    “Ask voters.” You just know that a ballot box stuffing is coming, either to get those taxes approved, or just get TABOR repealed. Anyway, this sounds like a real boondoggle, and I expect some people are going to get very rich building this train no one will ride. And of course there will be extra taxes needed to cover operation costs.

  20. From 9News:

    Gov. Polis: Colorado now in ‘fourth wave’ of COVID-19 infections

    “Chances are, if you develop COVID now, you are likely infected with a variant that is more easily spread and could more easily spread severe illness,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said.

    This is the pandemic that never ends
    Yes it goes on and on my friend
    Some people started believing it
    Not knowing what it was
    But people kept believing it just because
    This is the pandemic that never ends …

    1. “This is the pandemic that never ends …”

      The 1st world will be vaccinated by the Fall ’21. The 2nd and 3rd world will take longer, and because of global transportation the 1st world will likely need several follow-up boosters until the rollout is complete.

  21. Ok rms, I saw your other response to my response about the Earlier Baby Boomers getting a better deal.
    My overall point is that capitalism with a good job and manufacturing base with Big Government keeping its nose out of private business, except for necessary regulations, floats all boats and creates prosperity for all races.

    As far as racism is concerned, you can’t say a merit based system of advancement is racism because all races, including Whites , have to compete in such structures.
    If a Mexican illegal crosses the border illegally they are without a pot to piss in, so they are starting from scratch. Just as the early White immigrants started from scratch, given no welfare making slave wages. Its not racism that is at fault but rather starting from scratch, not even knowing the language.
    The idea that you have to have equality of outcome by Commie Programs is Communism ,which is a failed idea as its been proven time and time again.

    Individual freedoms and responsibility of the individual for the pursuit of happiness is capitalism, which has been destroyed in this Country and replaced by Racism narratives and Monopoly takeover looting and top down control which isn’t equity for any race, including Whites.
    I’m just saying that the Earlier Baby Boomers had a system that made it possible to build a good lifestyle, that was under capitalism, without Globalist Monopolies looting and gutting the American pie.
    So , now it the White race that’s the contrived enemy for all ills of Society, rather than capitalism being turned on its head by Globalist Monopolies creating this class warfare. And fake news encouraging the punishment of the White race by minorities is the Communist playbook on how to decide and conquer, except Monopolies are using the playbook for their power grab.
    Monopoly control isn’t exactly communism, because under Communism the Government owns all means of production or controls it. Monopolies controlling the resources and means of Production, and dictating Government Policy is about the worst time of system that there could be in terms of equity and the allocation of resources.
    I’m just saying this is the major cause of all the ills of today, not racism or merit based type white culture and hierarchy that developed.

    1. Ok, I also might add. The Early Baby Boomers bought houses for a slight hedge against inflation, a tax write off, and the notion that by the time of retirement they would have a paid off house. Never did the Boomers perceive that 30 to 50 thousand dollar shacks would rise to 600 to a million k.
      Boomers thought in terms of savings with reasonable return to fund retirement. The trade off is that a bad savings interest rate screwed that plan in retirement.
      I would be the first one to say that the younger generations are getting screwed by this fake wealth creation using real estate as the underlying asset.
      Its just not right that they messed with shelter.

    2. “My overall point is that capitalism with a good job and manufacturing base with Big Government keeping its nose out of private business, except for necessary regulations, floats all boats and creates prosperity for all races.”

      I agree.

      I was in the military soldiering with people from many backgrounds and races, and we learned that you get further ahead working as a team than working separately, or worse, working against each other. Also realize that the church was (is?) responsible for many of these deep divisions, likely more than the government.

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