USPS (post office) used to charge $1 if you wanted your mail held (if you did it online.)
Why? Because they could. Credit boom years $1 meant little to most people.
Today, they do it for free online.
Why? Because they should. Face time is very expensive for most businesses. (Always was, just was hidden during the boom.)
Logical? Don't be absurd!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
O Mark Twain, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?
Peak unemployment during GD1 = 22%
Unemployment in Detroit today = 29% (and rising!)
Need one say more?
Unemployment in Detroit today = 29% (and rising!)
Need one say more?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Dubai
This blog has already bored the livin' crap out of you on Dubai: read here.
Let's focus on the important lessons. The noise of them going bankrupt is irrelevant. That was expected, what, three years ago?
Dubai does not have oil.
Ponder that statement for a while. Ponder it, fuckers, ponder it. Don't just sit there. Think about it!
So what do they produce that the world considers "useful" or "valuable"?
The answer, as all such answers tend to be, is rather subtle.
They provided tax-arbitrage and wealth-arbitrage strategies for clueless nations. Just like Singapore.
In the 80's or early-90's, rich Indians could mosey their way to Dubai to buy the crap that their governments didn't allow them to buy internally. Ditto for Singapore.
Free ports? CHECK.
Duty free? CHECK.
Liberal-ish? CHECK.
But the governments wised up sooner or later. Why send the cream to Dubai when you can have it yourself?
Liberalize they did - India, China, Brazil, Russia, Israel, etc., etc., etc.
So remind me again what Dubai's business model is?
Isn't the bankruptcy bloody-fuckin' obvious?!?
Let's focus on the important lessons. The noise of them going bankrupt is irrelevant. That was expected, what, three years ago?
Dubai does not have oil.
Ponder that statement for a while. Ponder it, fuckers, ponder it. Don't just sit there. Think about it!
So what do they produce that the world considers "useful" or "valuable"?
The answer, as all such answers tend to be, is rather subtle.
They provided tax-arbitrage and wealth-arbitrage strategies for clueless nations. Just like Singapore.
In the 80's or early-90's, rich Indians could mosey their way to Dubai to buy the crap that their governments didn't allow them to buy internally. Ditto for Singapore.
Free ports? CHECK.
Duty free? CHECK.
Liberal-ish? CHECK.
But the governments wised up sooner or later. Why send the cream to Dubai when you can have it yourself?
Liberalize they did - India, China, Brazil, Russia, Israel, etc., etc., etc.
So remind me again what Dubai's business model is?
Isn't the bankruptcy bloody-fuckin' obvious?!?
Fools, fools, fools!
The Sydney Herald reports: Reserve Bank unfazed as housing prices keep rising.
Worried that $500,000 is too much to pay for a Melbourne house? The Reserve Bank isn't worried and it expects prices to climb higher still.
In a speech that amounted to a defence of Australia's historically high house prices, Reserve Bank deputy governor Ric Battellino told a Melbourne housing conference yesterday to expect worse and to recognise that buyers were getting value for money.
Prices would climb further because the global economy was growing again and because Australia had entered ''a new upswing'' that would extend its record 18 years of continuous economic expansion.
This man is a complete and utter fool!
To see this, first read this article yet more time again.
Yeah, they are "inflating" but the price momentum has shifted to commodities. Anybody who can't eat will dump the house to get food in the craw! Heck, they will take just about anything in the craw just to break even.
In all fairness, the EE is willing to buy the fact that Australia and Canada will be a non-proportionate beneficiary of a commodities boom. Assuming there is one. Which there won't be because we're in a deflationary collapse.
Lawd, what fools these mortals be!
Worried that $500,000 is too much to pay for a Melbourne house? The Reserve Bank isn't worried and it expects prices to climb higher still.
In a speech that amounted to a defence of Australia's historically high house prices, Reserve Bank deputy governor Ric Battellino told a Melbourne housing conference yesterday to expect worse and to recognise that buyers were getting value for money.
Prices would climb further because the global economy was growing again and because Australia had entered ''a new upswing'' that would extend its record 18 years of continuous economic expansion.
This man is a complete and utter fool!
To see this, first read this article yet more time again.
Yeah, they are "inflating" but the price momentum has shifted to commodities. Anybody who can't eat will dump the house to get food in the craw! Heck, they will take just about anything in the craw just to break even.
In all fairness, the EE is willing to buy the fact that Australia and Canada will be a non-proportionate beneficiary of a commodities boom. Assuming there is one. Which there won't be because we're in a deflationary collapse.
Lawd, what fools these mortals be!
Monday, October 05, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
O God, Please Help Me Sheer the Sheeple!
The venereal New York Times reports: Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich.
Onstage before thousands of believers weighed down by debt and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of “prosperity gospel” preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.
“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.
Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times.
The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.
But the offering buckets came up emptier than in some previous years, said those who have attended before.
Many in this flock do not trust banks, the news media or Washington, where the Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether the Copelands and other prosperity evangelists used donations to enrich themselves and abused their tax-exempt status. But they trust the Copelands, the movement’s current patriarch and matriarch, who seem to embody prosperity with their robust health and abundance of children and grandchildren who have followed them into the ministry.
At the convention, the preachers — who also included Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle — sprinkled their sermons with put-downs of the government, an overhaul of health care, public schools, the news media and other churches, many of which condemn prosperity preaching.
But mostly the preachers were working mightily to remind the crowd that they are God’s elect. “While everybody else is having a famine,” said Mr. Savelle, a Texas televangelist, “his covenant people will be having the best of times.”
“Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind,” Mr. Savelle continued, “the next thing you do is sow”: drop money, like seeds, in “good ground” like the preachers’ ministries. “Stop worrying, start sowing,” he added, his voice rising. “That’s God’s stimulus package for you.”
At that, hundreds streamed down the aisles to the stage, laying envelopes, cash and coins on the carpeted steps.
This is fucking awesome! It's like a scene out of Brazil or India or Italy.
BWAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Onstage before thousands of believers weighed down by debt and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of “prosperity gospel” preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.
“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.
Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times.
The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.
But the offering buckets came up emptier than in some previous years, said those who have attended before.
Many in this flock do not trust banks, the news media or Washington, where the Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether the Copelands and other prosperity evangelists used donations to enrich themselves and abused their tax-exempt status. But they trust the Copelands, the movement’s current patriarch and matriarch, who seem to embody prosperity with their robust health and abundance of children and grandchildren who have followed them into the ministry.
At the convention, the preachers — who also included Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle — sprinkled their sermons with put-downs of the government, an overhaul of health care, public schools, the news media and other churches, many of which condemn prosperity preaching.
But mostly the preachers were working mightily to remind the crowd that they are God’s elect. “While everybody else is having a famine,” said Mr. Savelle, a Texas televangelist, “his covenant people will be having the best of times.”
“Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind,” Mr. Savelle continued, “the next thing you do is sow”: drop money, like seeds, in “good ground” like the preachers’ ministries. “Stop worrying, start sowing,” he added, his voice rising. “That’s God’s stimulus package for you.”
At that, hundreds streamed down the aisles to the stage, laying envelopes, cash and coins on the carpeted steps.
This is fucking awesome! It's like a scene out of Brazil or India or Italy.
BWAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Shoot the Greens
Some totally ding-dong journal from Ohio reports: Double-digit unemployment hits 41 markets.
Forty-one of the nation’s 100 major labor markets, including Dayton at 12.1 percent, are now saddled with double-digit unemployment rates, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Forty-one of the nation’s 100 major labor markets, including Dayton at 12.1 percent, are now saddled with double-digit unemployment rates, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Delusional, Retarded or Both?
Yahoo! reports: A superstar real estate agent plots his comeback.
It's the perfect Miami morning at Carlos Justo's penthouse -- warm and bright, with luxury yachts powering through the sparkling blue Atlantic Ocean some 30 stories below.
Justo, a 53-year-old real estate agent, has been awake since 3:30 a.m. but he shows no sign of fatigue. His eyes scan back and forth, from the high rise condos, to the water, and back to the condos.
An assistant, sitting at a glass table with her back to the stunning view, is talking business. She wants to know whether he will receive any commissions or checks anytime soon.
"Right now, we don't have any money," Justo says. He continues talking. Fast. Pacing back and forth, he gazes out the window.
In fact, Justo is $20 million in debt. He is five months into a massive bankruptcy filing. The IRS is after him for $6 million.
And yet, he dreams.
Like so many of our modern titans -- think Donald Trump -- he inspires both admiration and contempt. Greed, he acknowledges, fueled his rise. Hubris ensured his fall.
Next time, he says, it will all be different.
In 2005, Justo was worth $20 million. He and the agents who worked for him sold $200 million in real estate in a single year. He was also the owner of 12 multimillion dollar estates in the county's most exclusive enclaves; he intended to eventually flip them and make a profit. Justo and his business partner, Irving Padron, were awarded a prestigious Sotheby's franchise and opened its offices in one of the few historic mansions in downtown Miami.
Justo spent $1,000 on sushi lunches, $3,000 a month on life coaching. He didn't accumulate many things -- he enjoyed sparsely decorated, all-white furniture and rooms -- and freely let his friends stay in the various homes he owned.
For three years, Justo had tried to avoid filing Chapter 7, even borrowing $15,000 from his 85-year-old mother and $75,000 from his 83-year-old aunt to pay his monthly debts. But he was underwater on too many mortgages. There were other creditors, too, including the IRS, which claimed that he should have filed his taxes in the United States, not in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which Justo says is his principal residence.
Justo had no savings, no stocks, no bonds.
His checking account hit bottom at $49.73. His financial picture was summed up in one dry sentence in the bankruptcy filing: "At the current time, the debtor has no income due to the state of the real estate market."
"In the past, I created my own hell. I needed to be brought to my knees," he says. "Whatever you believe, you create. Today, I live in a world with all possibilities."
But for Justo, those possibilities still include luxury. "I've been rich and I've been poor, and I like being rich a lot better," he says.
He says that after he pays his family back, he wants a yacht. And maybe a personal chef.
Which begs the question: Has he really learned from his mistakes?
Next up: Justo gives handjobs by the Marina for $1. Cash only!
It's the perfect Miami morning at Carlos Justo's penthouse -- warm and bright, with luxury yachts powering through the sparkling blue Atlantic Ocean some 30 stories below.
Justo, a 53-year-old real estate agent, has been awake since 3:30 a.m. but he shows no sign of fatigue. His eyes scan back and forth, from the high rise condos, to the water, and back to the condos.
An assistant, sitting at a glass table with her back to the stunning view, is talking business. She wants to know whether he will receive any commissions or checks anytime soon.
"Right now, we don't have any money," Justo says. He continues talking. Fast. Pacing back and forth, he gazes out the window.
In fact, Justo is $20 million in debt. He is five months into a massive bankruptcy filing. The IRS is after him for $6 million.
And yet, he dreams.
Like so many of our modern titans -- think Donald Trump -- he inspires both admiration and contempt. Greed, he acknowledges, fueled his rise. Hubris ensured his fall.
Next time, he says, it will all be different.
In 2005, Justo was worth $20 million. He and the agents who worked for him sold $200 million in real estate in a single year. He was also the owner of 12 multimillion dollar estates in the county's most exclusive enclaves; he intended to eventually flip them and make a profit. Justo and his business partner, Irving Padron, were awarded a prestigious Sotheby's franchise and opened its offices in one of the few historic mansions in downtown Miami.
Justo spent $1,000 on sushi lunches, $3,000 a month on life coaching. He didn't accumulate many things -- he enjoyed sparsely decorated, all-white furniture and rooms -- and freely let his friends stay in the various homes he owned.
For three years, Justo had tried to avoid filing Chapter 7, even borrowing $15,000 from his 85-year-old mother and $75,000 from his 83-year-old aunt to pay his monthly debts. But he was underwater on too many mortgages. There were other creditors, too, including the IRS, which claimed that he should have filed his taxes in the United States, not in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which Justo says is his principal residence.
Justo had no savings, no stocks, no bonds.
His checking account hit bottom at $49.73. His financial picture was summed up in one dry sentence in the bankruptcy filing: "At the current time, the debtor has no income due to the state of the real estate market."
"In the past, I created my own hell. I needed to be brought to my knees," he says. "Whatever you believe, you create. Today, I live in a world with all possibilities."
But for Justo, those possibilities still include luxury. "I've been rich and I've been poor, and I like being rich a lot better," he says.
He says that after he pays his family back, he wants a yacht. And maybe a personal chef.
Which begs the question: Has he really learned from his mistakes?
Next up: Justo gives handjobs by the Marina for $1. Cash only!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Various D-words All in Tandem
The New York Times reports: When Debtors Decide to Default.
Melissa Birks is being stalked. Her cellphone keeps ringing, always from a caller marked “unknown.” She says she knows it is her credit card company wondering why she stopped making payments. Ms. Birks, who owes $28,830, has nothing to say.
Those on the front lines of the debt industry say there is a small but increasingly noticeable group of strapped consumers who, like Ms. Birks, are deciding they will simply stop paying. After loading up on debt eagerly provided by the card companies during the boom times, these people now find themselves trapped in an endless cycle where they are charged interest on interest and fees upon fees while the lenders get government bailouts.
The lending industry term for these people is “ruthless defaulters.” In a miserable economy where paychecks, savings and expectations are all diminished, their numbers will surely grow.
DUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
They should default. It's the only rational solution for them and their personal finances. Creative default is the name of the game in the US bubble economy and they should do their bit.
Oh, and surely all of y'all realize that default = deflation, right?
Melissa Birks is being stalked. Her cellphone keeps ringing, always from a caller marked “unknown.” She says she knows it is her credit card company wondering why she stopped making payments. Ms. Birks, who owes $28,830, has nothing to say.
Those on the front lines of the debt industry say there is a small but increasingly noticeable group of strapped consumers who, like Ms. Birks, are deciding they will simply stop paying. After loading up on debt eagerly provided by the card companies during the boom times, these people now find themselves trapped in an endless cycle where they are charged interest on interest and fees upon fees while the lenders get government bailouts.
The lending industry term for these people is “ruthless defaulters.” In a miserable economy where paychecks, savings and expectations are all diminished, their numbers will surely grow.
DUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
They should default. It's the only rational solution for them and their personal finances. Creative default is the name of the game in the US bubble economy and they should do their bit.
Oh, and surely all of y'all realize that default = deflation, right?
We Haven't Had a Flashy Suicide in a While ...
Reuters reports: Kuwait Financier Facing U.S. Fraud Suit Found Dead.
A brash Kuwaiti financier facing a fraud suit by U.S. authorities was found dead Sunday in an apparent suicide that sent shockwaves through the Gulf Arab financial sector.
A security source told Reuters that Hazem Al-Braikan appeared to have died from a single gunshot wound to the side of the head, while a policeman standing outside Braikan's house said the well-connected financier, 37, had shot himself.
Braikan was the chief executive of Al Raya Investment, which is 10 percent owned by Citigroup Inc, and had been at the center of a financial scandal that erupted last week.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
A brash Kuwaiti financier facing a fraud suit by U.S. authorities was found dead Sunday in an apparent suicide that sent shockwaves through the Gulf Arab financial sector.
A security source told Reuters that Hazem Al-Braikan appeared to have died from a single gunshot wound to the side of the head, while a policeman standing outside Braikan's house said the well-connected financier, 37, had shot himself.
Braikan was the chief executive of Al Raya Investment, which is 10 percent owned by Citigroup Inc, and had been at the center of a financial scandal that erupted last week.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
More Californication (Are We Bored Yet?)
The venereal New York Times reports: California Pension Fund Hopes Riskier Bets Will Restore Its Health.
Big as California’s budget woes are today, so are the problems lurking in its biggest pension fund.
The fund, known as Calpers, lost nearly $60 billion in the financial markets last year. Though it has more than enough money to make its payments to retirees for many years, it has a serious long-term shortfall. Meanwhile, local governments in the state are pleading poverty and saying they cannot make the contributions that would be needed to shore it up.
Mr. Dear wants to embrace some potentially high-risk investments in hopes of higher returns.
Calpers has a lot riding on Mr. Dear’s effort to achieve above-market performance. The fund just posted a loss of 23 percent, the worst in its history. That leaves it 66 percent funded, the lowest level in two decades, meaning it has only $66 on hand for every $100 in benefits promised to 1.6 million California public employees and their families.
They were so astute that they lost 23% in a year. Now, they are so astute that they want to "embrace" riskier strategies.
The EE will provide a simple translation:
Dear California-Taxpayer, you are fucked!
Big as California’s budget woes are today, so are the problems lurking in its biggest pension fund.
The fund, known as Calpers, lost nearly $60 billion in the financial markets last year. Though it has more than enough money to make its payments to retirees for many years, it has a serious long-term shortfall. Meanwhile, local governments in the state are pleading poverty and saying they cannot make the contributions that would be needed to shore it up.
Mr. Dear wants to embrace some potentially high-risk investments in hopes of higher returns.
Calpers has a lot riding on Mr. Dear’s effort to achieve above-market performance. The fund just posted a loss of 23 percent, the worst in its history. That leaves it 66 percent funded, the lowest level in two decades, meaning it has only $66 on hand for every $100 in benefits promised to 1.6 million California public employees and their families.
They were so astute that they lost 23% in a year. Now, they are so astute that they want to "embrace" riskier strategies.
The EE will provide a simple translation:
Dear California-Taxpayer, you are fucked!
Monday, July 06, 2009
We're Still Californicating, Baby!
Reuters reports: As California struggles, Fitch cuts debt rating.
California suffered a new setback in its financial crisis on Monday when Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the state's general obligation debt to just two notches above junk status.
Fitch cut its rating on California's long-term bonds to "BBB," two notches above speculative grade, citing the state's budget and cash crisis. The state last week started issuing "IOU" promissory notes to pay for some bills in order to conserve cash.
AAA to BBB. That was just grade inflation!
How long before it's CCC?
California suffered a new setback in its financial crisis on Monday when Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the state's general obligation debt to just two notches above junk status.
Fitch cut its rating on California's long-term bonds to "BBB," two notches above speculative grade, citing the state's budget and cash crisis. The state last week started issuing "IOU" promissory notes to pay for some bills in order to conserve cash.
AAA to BBB. That was just grade inflation!
How long before it's CCC?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Bair Bitch Project
The WSJ reports: FDIC's Bair Cancels Listing After Cutting Home Price.
The property slump is hitting home for Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. -- one of the few regulators who saw trouble in the housing market before the bust.
Last week, Ms. Bair removed her 14-room colonial in Amherst, Mass., from the market after cutting its sale price by $100,000 from an initial $795,000 in April, according to the listing sheet.
Ms. Bair, and her husband, Scott P. Cooper, paid $355,000 for the house in 2002. In "02 and "03 they received building permits valued at $89,500 to renovate the 1860s house., including new roofing and a counter-current basement pool.
After listing the five-bedroom property in April, the couple cut the price to $745,000 less than three weeks later, then reduced it again before withdrawing the listing. Ms. Bair's real-estate agent, Stephen Feldman, of Prudential Sawicki Real Estate, declined comment. An FDIC spokesman said Ms. Bair decided to remove the listing and wait for the market to improve on the advice of her real-estate agent.
We've met this bitch before, of course (here and here.) She is stupider than a rock for which one must actually apologize to the rock.
Needless to say, these are the people regulating the financial industry which tells you something about their "acute" financial acumen.
The EE will bet even money that the house sells for less than $355K before 2013. The cow in question is literally that dumb!
The property slump is hitting home for Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. -- one of the few regulators who saw trouble in the housing market before the bust.
Last week, Ms. Bair removed her 14-room colonial in Amherst, Mass., from the market after cutting its sale price by $100,000 from an initial $795,000 in April, according to the listing sheet.
Ms. Bair, and her husband, Scott P. Cooper, paid $355,000 for the house in 2002. In "02 and "03 they received building permits valued at $89,500 to renovate the 1860s house., including new roofing and a counter-current basement pool.
After listing the five-bedroom property in April, the couple cut the price to $745,000 less than three weeks later, then reduced it again before withdrawing the listing. Ms. Bair's real-estate agent, Stephen Feldman, of Prudential Sawicki Real Estate, declined comment. An FDIC spokesman said Ms. Bair decided to remove the listing and wait for the market to improve on the advice of her real-estate agent.
We've met this bitch before, of course (here and here.) She is stupider than a rock for which one must actually apologize to the rock.
Needless to say, these are the people regulating the financial industry which tells you something about their "acute" financial acumen.
The EE will bet even money that the house sells for less than $355K before 2013. The cow in question is literally that dumb!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
How Many Days Since We Last Californicated?
The Washington Post recounts: Calif. Aid Request Spurned By U.S.
The Obama administration has turned back pleas for emergency aid from one of the biggest remaining threats to the economy -- the state of California.
Top state officials have gone hat in hand to the administration, armed with dire warnings of a fast-approaching "fiscal meltdown" caused by a budget shortfall. Concern has grown inside the White House in recent weeks as California's fiscal condition has worsened, leading to high-level administration meetings. But federal officials are worried that a bailout of California would set off a cascade of demands from other states.
After a series of meetings, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, top White House economists Lawrence Summers and Christina Romer, and other senior officials have decided that California could hold on a little longer and should get its budget in order rather than rely on a federal bailout.
Let us recap the situation.
California Legislature to California Voters: Fuck you!
California Voters to California Legislature: Fuck you!
Candy-Crappin' Unicorn™ to California: Fuck you!
Lovely.
The Obama administration has turned back pleas for emergency aid from one of the biggest remaining threats to the economy -- the state of California.
Top state officials have gone hat in hand to the administration, armed with dire warnings of a fast-approaching "fiscal meltdown" caused by a budget shortfall. Concern has grown inside the White House in recent weeks as California's fiscal condition has worsened, leading to high-level administration meetings. But federal officials are worried that a bailout of California would set off a cascade of demands from other states.
After a series of meetings, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, top White House economists Lawrence Summers and Christina Romer, and other senior officials have decided that California could hold on a little longer and should get its budget in order rather than rely on a federal bailout.
Let us recap the situation.
California Legislature to California Voters: Fuck you!
California Voters to California Legislature: Fuck you!
Candy-Crappin' Unicorn™ to California: Fuck you!
Lovely.
Alert All Battle Stations! Coffee Bubble Collapses
The WSJ reports: Retailers Head for Exits in Detroit.
They call this the Motor City, but you have to leave town to buy a Chrysler or a Jeep.
Borders Inc. was founded 40 miles away, but the only one of the chain's bookstores here closed this month. And Starbucks Corp., famous for saturating U.S. cities with its storefronts, has only four left in this city of 900,000 after closures last summer.
More Starsucks in Times Square than all of Detroit! Isn't there a joke in there somewhere?
And needing to leave town to buy a Detroitdisaster car is just too funny!
They call this the Motor City, but you have to leave town to buy a Chrysler or a Jeep.
Borders Inc. was founded 40 miles away, but the only one of the chain's bookstores here closed this month. And Starbucks Corp., famous for saturating U.S. cities with its storefronts, has only four left in this city of 900,000 after closures last summer.
More Starsucks in Times Square than all of Detroit! Isn't there a joke in there somewhere?
And needing to leave town to buy a Detroit
Monday, June 15, 2009
Protecting Your Family
The Orlando Sentinel reports: 4 dead in murder-suicide in Heathrow.
A man shot and killed his wife and two children, then turned the gun on himself inside their upscale Heathrow home, Seminole County sheriff's officials said today.
Deputies identified the victims of the murder-suicide as John Dillon Wood, 41; Cynthia Wood, 40; Aubrey Wood, 12; and Dillon Wood, 10. Their bodies were found today inside their Trentwood Court home in the Lakeside subdivision.
"[Wood] apparently shot his entire family," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said. "It's a huge tragedy. There's no other way to describe it."
Eslinger said the family was having financial issues.
Neighbor Ed Evans said John Wood had worked at Lowe's home improvement store, but more recently had been working for Dick's Sporting Goods in Melbourne.
Cynthia Wood also recently lost her job, said Evans, who described them as a "nice couple."
The media is not allowed into the gated community, but aerial images from televised newscasts showed several deputy patrol cars parked outside the home.
Please note that they lived in a "gated" community.
The "gated" community is supposed to protect "the children" from harm (read: blatant racism and anti-Semitism up the wazoo!)
Pity the children weren't "gated" from their parents' financial stupidity!
Who "gates" the "gaters"?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
A man shot and killed his wife and two children, then turned the gun on himself inside their upscale Heathrow home, Seminole County sheriff's officials said today.
Deputies identified the victims of the murder-suicide as John Dillon Wood, 41; Cynthia Wood, 40; Aubrey Wood, 12; and Dillon Wood, 10. Their bodies were found today inside their Trentwood Court home in the Lakeside subdivision.
"[Wood] apparently shot his entire family," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said. "It's a huge tragedy. There's no other way to describe it."
Eslinger said the family was having financial issues.
Neighbor Ed Evans said John Wood had worked at Lowe's home improvement store, but more recently had been working for Dick's Sporting Goods in Melbourne.
Cynthia Wood also recently lost her job, said Evans, who described them as a "nice couple."
The media is not allowed into the gated community, but aerial images from televised newscasts showed several deputy patrol cars parked outside the home.
Please note that they lived in a "gated" community.
The "gated" community is supposed to protect "the children" from harm (read: blatant racism and anti-Semitism up the wazoo!)
Pity the children weren't "gated" from their parents' financial stupidity!
Who "gates" the "gaters"?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Californication (in perspective)
A friend provided the following analysis:
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Population of California = 36M
Percentage below 18 = 26%
Percentage above 65 = 11%
(Source: Census Quickfacts.)
There are 22 million productive adults which means they need roughly $1,000 per head in taxes!
To fund those taxes, the productive capacity of those 22 million adults has to be much much higher. And most of them couldn't even write you a $100 check tomorrow morning!
How do you say `fucked' in Californese?
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Population of California = 36M
Percentage below 18 = 26%
Percentage above 65 = 11%
(Source: Census Quickfacts.)
There are 22 million productive adults which means they need roughly $1,000 per head in taxes!
To fund those taxes, the productive capacity of those 22 million adults has to be much much higher. And most of them couldn't even write you a $100 check tomorrow morning!
How do you say `fucked' in Californese?
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Countdown Begins
Reuters reports: California nears financial "meltdown" as revenues tumble.
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Underscoring the severity of California's cash crisis, Controller John Chiang, who has previously warned the state's government risks running out of cash without a budget deal, said revenues in May fell by $1.14 billon, or 17.7 percent, from a year earlier.
"Without immediate solutions from the governor and legislature, we are less than 50 days away from a meltdown of state government," Chiang said in a statement.
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Underscoring the severity of California's cash crisis, Controller John Chiang, who has previously warned the state's government risks running out of cash without a budget deal, said revenues in May fell by $1.14 billon, or 17.7 percent, from a year earlier.
"Without immediate solutions from the governor and legislature, we are less than 50 days away from a meltdown of state government," Chiang said in a statement.
Well, Hello There!
Bloomberg reports: Option ARMs Threaten U.S. Housing Rebound as 2011 Resets Peak .
Shirley Breitmaier’s mortgage payment started out at $98 when she refinanced her three-bedroom home in Galt, California, in 2007. The 73-year-old widow may see it jump to $3,500 a month in two years.
Breitmaier took out a payment-option adjustable rate mortgage, a loan popular during the housing boom for its low minimum payments before resetting at higher costs later.
Option ARM borrowers hit with unaffordable monthly payments are another threat to the housing recovery and the economy, said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia. Owners who surrender properties to the bank rather than make higher payments for homes that have plummeted in value will further depress real estate prices and add to the inventory of properties on the market, she said.
“The option ARM recasts will drive up the foreclosure supply, undermining the recovery in the housing market,” Wachter said in an interview. “The option ARMs will be part of the reason that the path to recovery will be long and slow.”
Option ARM recasts will mean more pain for California, the state with the most foreclosures in the U.S.
Well, DUH!!! Those morons couldn't afford the house in the first place. That's the whole point of these absurd exploding Option-ARM's.
And there's only one "solution" - either earn more income, or house prices fall steeply.
The solution is left as an easy exercise to the reader.
Shirley Breitmaier’s mortgage payment started out at $98 when she refinanced her three-bedroom home in Galt, California, in 2007. The 73-year-old widow may see it jump to $3,500 a month in two years.
Breitmaier took out a payment-option adjustable rate mortgage, a loan popular during the housing boom for its low minimum payments before resetting at higher costs later.
Option ARM borrowers hit with unaffordable monthly payments are another threat to the housing recovery and the economy, said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia. Owners who surrender properties to the bank rather than make higher payments for homes that have plummeted in value will further depress real estate prices and add to the inventory of properties on the market, she said.
“The option ARM recasts will drive up the foreclosure supply, undermining the recovery in the housing market,” Wachter said in an interview. “The option ARMs will be part of the reason that the path to recovery will be long and slow.”
Option ARM recasts will mean more pain for California, the state with the most foreclosures in the U.S.
Well, DUH!!! Those morons couldn't afford the house in the first place. That's the whole point of these absurd exploding Option-ARM's.
And there's only one "solution" - either earn more income, or house prices fall steeply.
The solution is left as an easy exercise to the reader.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!
The New York Daily News reports: City turns upscale building in Crown Heights into homeless shelter.
Granite countertops. Terraces. Marble bathrooms. Walk-in closets.
The homeless are livin' large in Brooklyn.
The city is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to rent luxury condos in a CCity officials said the condos - which couldn't attract buyers in the fizzled housing market - are part of an effort to help an "unprecedented" number of homeless families who have ended up on the street because of the tough economy.
Units priced at $350,000.
Neighbors were furious the 67-unit building on East New York Ave., where apartments were supposed to sell for $250,000 to $350,000, has been turned into a shelter.
PUNK'D!!!!!
And that's why, muchachos y muchachas, it's a bad idea to buy from a builder during a bubble.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Granite countertops. Terraces. Marble bathrooms. Walk-in closets.
The homeless are livin' large in Brooklyn.
The city is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to rent luxury condos in a CCity officials said the condos - which couldn't attract buyers in the fizzled housing market - are part of an effort to help an "unprecedented" number of homeless families who have ended up on the street because of the tough economy.
Units priced at $350,000.
Neighbors were furious the 67-unit building on East New York Ave., where apartments were supposed to sell for $250,000 to $350,000, has been turned into a shelter.
PUNK'D!!!!!
And that's why, muchachos y muchachas, it's a bad idea to buy from a builder during a bubble.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
In Which Turbo-Tax Timmay Still Can't Manage Econ 101
We've already talked about Turbo-Tax Timmay and his Larchmont, NY house.
Here's an update.
The real estate market's troubles are hitting close to home for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
After reducing the price on his house in a tony New York City suburb to less than he paid for it, Geithner still couldn't sell and recently rented it out instead, according to real estate agents familiar with the deal.
Geithner put his five-bedroom Tudor near leafy Larchmont on the market for $1.635 million in February, after heading to Washington for his job as the nation's top economic official.
A few weeks after the asking price was dropped to $1.575 million, the home was rented for $7,500 a month on May 21, said the agents, Scott Stiefvater of Stiefvater Real Estate and Debbie Meiliken of Keller Williams Realty New York.
Neither was directly involved in the rental; the name of the broker and agency that arranged it were not immediately available.
Although $7,500 might seem like a lot of rent, it probably falls a bit short of the monthly mortgage payments on the Geithners' two loans totaling $1.25 million, plus $27,000 a year in property taxes.
Records show Geithner and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, paid $1.602 million for the home in 2004.
And this man is the Secretary of the Treasury. He can't do basic financial literacy on his own home!
No wonder the Chinese students are laughing at him.
TIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!
Here's an update.
The real estate market's troubles are hitting close to home for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
After reducing the price on his house in a tony New York City suburb to less than he paid for it, Geithner still couldn't sell and recently rented it out instead, according to real estate agents familiar with the deal.
Geithner put his five-bedroom Tudor near leafy Larchmont on the market for $1.635 million in February, after heading to Washington for his job as the nation's top economic official.
A few weeks after the asking price was dropped to $1.575 million, the home was rented for $7,500 a month on May 21, said the agents, Scott Stiefvater of Stiefvater Real Estate and Debbie Meiliken of Keller Williams Realty New York.
Neither was directly involved in the rental; the name of the broker and agency that arranged it were not immediately available.
Although $7,500 might seem like a lot of rent, it probably falls a bit short of the monthly mortgage payments on the Geithners' two loans totaling $1.25 million, plus $27,000 a year in property taxes.
Records show Geithner and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, paid $1.602 million for the home in 2004.
And this man is the Secretary of the Treasury. He can't do basic financial literacy on his own home!
No wonder the Chinese students are laughing at him.
TIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!
Choo Choo - All Aboard the Schadenfreude Special!
The WSJ reports: From Ordering Steak and Lobster, to Serving It.
Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch.
Mr. Araya, 38 years old, lost his job in 2007 as a crude oil trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After visiting dozens of headhunters with no luck, he applied in August 2008 to be a host at the Palm to support his wife, two young daughters and mortgage payments. His salary has plunged from $200,000 to $25,000.
Last month, for the first time, the Arayas didn't make a mortgage payment. Their savings are almost depleted. The mortgage, taxes and fees for the family's condo cost $6,200. Combined, he and Denise bring in $4,000 a month. Three months ago, he and his wife applied to restructure their mortgage. The bank told them it is still processing the request. They fear foreclosure and bankruptcy.
Mr. Araya, the son of a cab driver, grew up in a working-class neighborhood in nearby Queens. Like thousands of New Yorkers, he used a Wall Street job to vault into a comfortable lifestyle that included his apartment -- bought for $960,000 four years ago -- in Manhattan's Battery Park City neighborhood and family vacations to Cabo San Lucas, Disneyland and Las Vegas.
The Arayas purchased the condo in 2005 with a 20% down payment and a pre-construction price. The proximity of the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment to the trading pit allowed Mr. Araya to spend more time with his family and less time commuting. Ms. Araya diligently managed the family budget with Excel charts to ensure that they had no credit card debt, good credit histories even an emergency fund saved over five years that is now depleted. Mr. Araya says he would be lucky to find a buyer and break even on the apartment now.
$960K for a two-bedroom.
Carrying cost = $6,200
Monthly income = $4,000
Stupid is as stupid does.
Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch.
Mr. Araya, 38 years old, lost his job in 2007 as a crude oil trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After visiting dozens of headhunters with no luck, he applied in August 2008 to be a host at the Palm to support his wife, two young daughters and mortgage payments. His salary has plunged from $200,000 to $25,000.
Last month, for the first time, the Arayas didn't make a mortgage payment. Their savings are almost depleted. The mortgage, taxes and fees for the family's condo cost $6,200. Combined, he and Denise bring in $4,000 a month. Three months ago, he and his wife applied to restructure their mortgage. The bank told them it is still processing the request. They fear foreclosure and bankruptcy.
Mr. Araya, the son of a cab driver, grew up in a working-class neighborhood in nearby Queens. Like thousands of New Yorkers, he used a Wall Street job to vault into a comfortable lifestyle that included his apartment -- bought for $960,000 four years ago -- in Manhattan's Battery Park City neighborhood and family vacations to Cabo San Lucas, Disneyland and Las Vegas.
The Arayas purchased the condo in 2005 with a 20% down payment and a pre-construction price. The proximity of the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment to the trading pit allowed Mr. Araya to spend more time with his family and less time commuting. Ms. Araya diligently managed the family budget with Excel charts to ensure that they had no credit card debt, good credit histories even an emergency fund saved over five years that is now depleted. Mr. Araya says he would be lucky to find a buyer and break even on the apartment now.
$960K for a two-bedroom.
Carrying cost = $6,200
Monthly income = $4,000
Stupid is as stupid does.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Laughter - The "Only" Medicine
Reuters reports: Geithner tells China its dollar assets are safe.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday reassured the Chinese government that its huge holdings of dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a strong U.S. currency.
"Chinese assets are very safe," Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.
His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience.
When students openly laugh at a Treasury Secretary, perhaps it's wiser to shut the fuck up!
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday reassured the Chinese government that its huge holdings of dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a strong U.S. currency.
"Chinese assets are very safe," Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.
His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience.
When students openly laugh at a Treasury Secretary, perhaps it's wiser to shut the fuck up!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Sex me up, Sex me down
Time reports: From Bangkok to Berlin, Hard Times Hit the Sex Trade.
In Patpong, one of Bangkok's most notorious red-light districts, go-go girls count their livelihood by the number of sex tourists they entertain. "Three inches, three minutes, 3,000 baht ($87)," laughs Goy, a 25-year-old bargirl. Last summer, she and her fellow pole dancers at the Camelot Castle entertained scores of men every night — first in the bar, where they earn a monthly salary, then at the customer's hotel, where they negotiate their own rates. But as cash-strapped tourists have turned their backs on Thailand — tourism officials say revenues will plunge 35% this year — the ranks of men cruising Patpong have thinned dramatically. On a recent Wednesday evening, just three tourists watched a visibly disgruntled Goy wiggle around her pole. "My base salary was 8,000 baht ($232) a month, but now they are giving me 6,000 baht ($174)," she says. "I haven't had a customer in five nights, and I'm lucky if someone buys me a drink."
In the Czech Republic, where 14% of men admit to having slept with a prostitute, up to half of all sex establishments outside of Prague have closed in the past year, says Hana Malinova, director of Bliss Without Risk, a prostitution-outreach group in the capital. Others have simply reduced their workforce. "In villages where there used to be 10 girls, there are now two," she says. America's working girls have suffered too. The Mustang Ranch in Reno, Nev., recently laid off 30% of its staff after its highest-spending clients started staying away.
Back in Bangkok, the relative strength of foreign currencies isn't helping local businesses. The cost of traveling to Thailand from far-flung places like Australia and Japan offsets any gains from the exchange rate. Pong, the female manager of Bangkok's Babylon Sauna, Bed and Breakfast, knows that all too well, as her business depends on foreign revenue to stay afloat. Described as "the most stylish and lavish sauna ever seen" by online gay guide Pink Banana World, Babylon welcomed an average of 800 visitors per day before the recession hit. That number now hovers around 500. "The entrance fee is already low, so dropping it won't make a difference," Pong says. So what's a sauna manager to do? "Pray for us," is all she can say.
Well, there's that deflating feeling again!
In Patpong, one of Bangkok's most notorious red-light districts, go-go girls count their livelihood by the number of sex tourists they entertain. "Three inches, three minutes, 3,000 baht ($87)," laughs Goy, a 25-year-old bargirl. Last summer, she and her fellow pole dancers at the Camelot Castle entertained scores of men every night — first in the bar, where they earn a monthly salary, then at the customer's hotel, where they negotiate their own rates. But as cash-strapped tourists have turned their backs on Thailand — tourism officials say revenues will plunge 35% this year — the ranks of men cruising Patpong have thinned dramatically. On a recent Wednesday evening, just three tourists watched a visibly disgruntled Goy wiggle around her pole. "My base salary was 8,000 baht ($232) a month, but now they are giving me 6,000 baht ($174)," she says. "I haven't had a customer in five nights, and I'm lucky if someone buys me a drink."
In the Czech Republic, where 14% of men admit to having slept with a prostitute, up to half of all sex establishments outside of Prague have closed in the past year, says Hana Malinova, director of Bliss Without Risk, a prostitution-outreach group in the capital. Others have simply reduced their workforce. "In villages where there used to be 10 girls, there are now two," she says. America's working girls have suffered too. The Mustang Ranch in Reno, Nev., recently laid off 30% of its staff after its highest-spending clients started staying away.
Back in Bangkok, the relative strength of foreign currencies isn't helping local businesses. The cost of traveling to Thailand from far-flung places like Australia and Japan offsets any gains from the exchange rate. Pong, the female manager of Bangkok's Babylon Sauna, Bed and Breakfast, knows that all too well, as her business depends on foreign revenue to stay afloat. Described as "the most stylish and lavish sauna ever seen" by online gay guide Pink Banana World, Babylon welcomed an average of 800 visitors per day before the recession hit. That number now hovers around 500. "The entrance fee is already low, so dropping it won't make a difference," Pong says. So what's a sauna manager to do? "Pray for us," is all she can say.
Well, there's that deflating feeling again!
Fashion Folly
The New York Times reports: Lacroix Files for Bankruptcy Protection.
Christian Lacroix, the French couturier whose artistic and exuberant pouf dresses propelled him to fame in the 1980s, became the latest victim of the global financial crisis Thursday as the U.S.-owned fashion house bearing his name filed for court protection from creditors.
Although Lacroix’s chief executive officer, Nicolas Topiol, emphasized that the brand intended to continue operating during the process, the news brings an end to a luxury business model for which Lacroix was the last of the Mohicans.
Très passé.
Christian Lacroix, the French couturier whose artistic and exuberant pouf dresses propelled him to fame in the 1980s, became the latest victim of the global financial crisis Thursday as the U.S.-owned fashion house bearing his name filed for court protection from creditors.
Although Lacroix’s chief executive officer, Nicolas Topiol, emphasized that the brand intended to continue operating during the process, the news brings an end to a luxury business model for which Lacroix was the last of the Mohicans.
Très passé.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Bored of the Rings
From Oregonlive.com: After storybook boom, Bend faces a tough chapter.
Once upon a time not so long ago, developers seeking magic money poured $4 million into a "Lord of the Rings" subdivision here complete with hobbit holes and thatch-roof houses.
This month Umpqua Bank, which foreclosed on The Shire, unloaded the moribund development for just $750,000.
It's hardly the storybook ending J.R.R. Tolkien might have written for a project that symbolized the extremes of Bend's legendary boom. But central Oregon has become the Middle Earth of unemployment -- at 17 percent, Bend suffers the second-highest rate among metro areas nationally -- as retirees scramble for work and homeless people supplant outdoor enthusiasts.
Down the road, more bargain hunters cruise the aisles at Gottschalks, an apparel chain that's liquidating six months after opening its newly built Bend outlet. Along the same highway, the Westward Ho Motel promotes a $29 "stimulus special."
At the hobbit-themed Shire development, Greg Steckler, the lone homeowner, yearns for an economic recovery that would give him some neighbors. "I want some help mowing these lawns," he says.
Lawd, it's a dumbfest out there!
Once upon a time not so long ago, developers seeking magic money poured $4 million into a "Lord of the Rings" subdivision here complete with hobbit holes and thatch-roof houses.
This month Umpqua Bank, which foreclosed on The Shire, unloaded the moribund development for just $750,000.
It's hardly the storybook ending J.R.R. Tolkien might have written for a project that symbolized the extremes of Bend's legendary boom. But central Oregon has become the Middle Earth of unemployment -- at 17 percent, Bend suffers the second-highest rate among metro areas nationally -- as retirees scramble for work and homeless people supplant outdoor enthusiasts.
Down the road, more bargain hunters cruise the aisles at Gottschalks, an apparel chain that's liquidating six months after opening its newly built Bend outlet. Along the same highway, the Westward Ho Motel promotes a $29 "stimulus special."
At the hobbit-themed Shire development, Greg Steckler, the lone homeowner, yearns for an economic recovery that would give him some neighbors. "I want some help mowing these lawns," he says.
Lawd, it's a dumbfest out there!
An Artful Bankruptcy
Gawker reports: Will Annie Leibovitz Be Forced Into Bankruptcy?
Ãœber-photographer Annie Leibovitz was forced to mortgage the rights to all her photographs last year in exchange for $15 million, and she's been the target of multiple creditor lawsuits for not paying bills. Now a source tells Gawker that one of them is preparing to force her into bankruptcy.
Our source got a hold of an involuntary bankruptcy petition drawn up by photo supplier B2Pro, which has sued Leibovitz and Vanity Fair publisher Condé Nast for unpaid bills.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Leibovitz has pawned the rights to every photograph she has ever or will ever take to Art Capital Group, along with her homes in Rhinebeck, N.Y., and Manhattan. If she pays back the $15 million, she keeps the photos and the houses. If she doesn't, Art Capital gets them.
Ãœber-photographer Annie Leibovitz was forced to mortgage the rights to all her photographs last year in exchange for $15 million, and she's been the target of multiple creditor lawsuits for not paying bills. Now a source tells Gawker that one of them is preparing to force her into bankruptcy.
Our source got a hold of an involuntary bankruptcy petition drawn up by photo supplier B2Pro, which has sued Leibovitz and Vanity Fair publisher Condé Nast for unpaid bills.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Leibovitz has pawned the rights to every photograph she has ever or will ever take to Art Capital Group, along with her homes in Rhinebeck, N.Y., and Manhattan. If she pays back the $15 million, she keeps the photos and the houses. If she doesn't, Art Capital gets them.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
That Electrifying Elated Feeling
The LA Times reports: Orange County contractor kills girlfriend, young son and himself.
An electrical contractor who was having financial problems shot to death his live-in girlfriend and 3 1/2-year-old son before killing himself, police said today.
Officers called to an apartment in Orange on Tuesday afternoon found the bodies of Craig Rubin, 44, and Mary Striley, 42, on beds in separate bedrooms while the body of their son, Jake, was in a high chair in the kitchen, Sgt. Dan Adams said.
Each had been shot once in the head.
A work van labeled Rubin Electric was parked outside the apartment.
An electrical contractor who was having financial problems shot to death his live-in girlfriend and 3 1/2-year-old son before killing himself, police said today.
Officers called to an apartment in Orange on Tuesday afternoon found the bodies of Craig Rubin, 44, and Mary Striley, 42, on beds in separate bedrooms while the body of their son, Jake, was in a high chair in the kitchen, Sgt. Dan Adams said.
Each had been shot once in the head.
A work van labeled Rubin Electric was parked outside the apartment.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Donating Excess Liquidity
MSN reports: You know it's a recession when ...
Strapped men are lining up to donate sperm at Xytex's two Georgia sperm bank centers. Spokesman Christopher Karow believes financial pressure is driving the 9% increase in volunteers since September. Men make $195 to $300 donating three times a week, the limit. "Students are doing it to offset the cost of their education, books and housing, where before they did it for recreation money," Karow says.
Women, too, are asking their reproductive organs for some return on investment. The World Egg Bank in Phoenix fields about 450 inquiries a week, up from 250 last fall. "I believe that egg donors are not any different from the general population looking for quick and creative ways of coping with the quick turn in our economy," says Diana Thomas, the company president.
All y'all men might want to make a "deposit" ...
Strapped men are lining up to donate sperm at Xytex's two Georgia sperm bank centers. Spokesman Christopher Karow believes financial pressure is driving the 9% increase in volunteers since September. Men make $195 to $300 donating three times a week, the limit. "Students are doing it to offset the cost of their education, books and housing, where before they did it for recreation money," Karow says.
Women, too, are asking their reproductive organs for some return on investment. The World Egg Bank in Phoenix fields about 450 inquiries a week, up from 250 last fall. "I believe that egg donors are not any different from the general population looking for quick and creative ways of coping with the quick turn in our economy," says Diana Thomas, the company president.
All y'all men might want to make a "deposit" ...
Friday, May 01, 2009
Everybody Mambo - How Low can the Rising Sun Go?
The BBC reports: Japan moves back into deflation.
Japan's economy has fallen back into deflation for the first time in more than a year, new data for March shows.
On Thursday the Bank of Japan said GDP would shrink by 3.1% in the year to March 2010, compared to an earlier forecast of 2%, but it has argued that a recovery will begin in 2010.
But in its latest update earlier this week it also warned that consumer prices will fall by 1.5%, pushing Japan into deflation.
The Bank of Japan has forecast two years of deflation, which stalked the Japanese economy in the 1990s.
Japan's economy has fallen back into deflation for the first time in more than a year, new data for March shows.
On Thursday the Bank of Japan said GDP would shrink by 3.1% in the year to March 2010, compared to an earlier forecast of 2%, but it has argued that a recovery will begin in 2010.
But in its latest update earlier this week it also warned that consumer prices will fall by 1.5%, pushing Japan into deflation.
The Bank of Japan has forecast two years of deflation, which stalked the Japanese economy in the 1990s.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Double-Digitally Dubious Dubai
From Yahoo! Finance: Research firm: Dubai home prices drop 41 pct in 1Q.
Home prices in the once red-hot Middle East boomtown of Dubai plunged 41 percent in the first three months of 2009 as the global economic slowdown raised concerns about job security and dried up financing, according to figures released Tuesday that suggest nearly two years of gains have evaporated.
That's just one quarter folks! - three months - not a year, not a few years, just three months.
Of course, the EE had explained the concept right here.
Dubai is toasted! Prices will fall a lot further.
Home prices in the once red-hot Middle East boomtown of Dubai plunged 41 percent in the first three months of 2009 as the global economic slowdown raised concerns about job security and dried up financing, according to figures released Tuesday that suggest nearly two years of gains have evaporated.
That's just one quarter folks! - three months - not a year, not a few years, just three months.
Of course, the EE had explained the concept right here.
Dubai is toasted! Prices will fall a lot further.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Lien Gangrene Acts Meanly on the Has-Been!
The Houston Chronicle reports: The logjam in lending inflicts pain.
The office is at the end of a nondescript hallway in one of the countless midrise office buildings that dot the Greater Houston area.
No receptionist sits inside, but it’s a small enough operation that the sound of the door opening brings one of the principals to the front. Two others join us in the windowless conference room, where they begin discussing the crisis they face.
Their company develops, builds and manages real estate, especially multi-family properties, and they feel it slipping away. In recent weeks, three of their projects were thrown into default, even though they say they’ve been current on all payments and had a 50 percent equity stake in the deal.
Their lender called for a new appraisal, and because the appraised value fell, the loan was deemed under-collateralized. The bank declared them in default and has refused offers for a compromise, they say.
The frustration of area builders and developers indicates a bigger problem in commercial real estate. Almost $500 billion in loans is coming due this year nationally, but the decline in property values and the tighter lending practices mean there’s only enough capital available to refinance 10 percent of them, Fish said.
“Losses in the commercial real estate sector for the most part have yet to be realized,” Fish said. “This is going to be an extended period of time that it takes for de-leveraging, and de-leveraging is just about as ugly a process as there is.”
In the 1980s, a wrenching revaluation of Texas’ real estate market took seven years to complete, and it may take years for the local market to fully recover this time, too, he added.
So you mean that borrowing a crapload a money is not the path to riches?
Shit, kid, wish you could've said something earlier!
The office is at the end of a nondescript hallway in one of the countless midrise office buildings that dot the Greater Houston area.
No receptionist sits inside, but it’s a small enough operation that the sound of the door opening brings one of the principals to the front. Two others join us in the windowless conference room, where they begin discussing the crisis they face.
Their company develops, builds and manages real estate, especially multi-family properties, and they feel it slipping away. In recent weeks, three of their projects were thrown into default, even though they say they’ve been current on all payments and had a 50 percent equity stake in the deal.
Their lender called for a new appraisal, and because the appraised value fell, the loan was deemed under-collateralized. The bank declared them in default and has refused offers for a compromise, they say.
The frustration of area builders and developers indicates a bigger problem in commercial real estate. Almost $500 billion in loans is coming due this year nationally, but the decline in property values and the tighter lending practices mean there’s only enough capital available to refinance 10 percent of them, Fish said.
“Losses in the commercial real estate sector for the most part have yet to be realized,” Fish said. “This is going to be an extended period of time that it takes for de-leveraging, and de-leveraging is just about as ugly a process as there is.”
In the 1980s, a wrenching revaluation of Texas’ real estate market took seven years to complete, and it may take years for the local market to fully recover this time, too, he added.
So you mean that borrowing a crapload a money is not the path to riches?
Shit, kid, wish you could've said something earlier!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Education Bubble Collapses
Time reports: Cash-Strapped State Schools Being Forced to Privatize.
The cash-strapped state of Michigan is looking to save money any way it can, and some political leaders have suggested essentially privatizing the state's flagship university. While formally turning the school into a private university would be tricky — requiring legislative approval, a constitutional amendment, and the support of the university's Board of Regents — legislators have proposed eliminating the $327 million in funding that the state provides to the university each year. Making up the state's contribution, however, would require an endowment on the order of $16 billion, a nearly impossible task even in flush times.
Traditionally, state universities provided an affordable education for its residents by offering subsidized in-state tuition. For Lansing native Anneke Stadt, a sophomore nursing student, the $11,037 tuition is the main reason she's at the University of Michigan. Stadt says she looked into private schools like Hope College ($33,000 tuition) and Kalamazoo College ($38,000 tuition). "I couldn't really afford them, though," she explains, "so I hedged my bets with the public school."
The struggling economy is forcing even wealthy families to look for the best value for their tuition dollars. For just $5,000 more in tuition, an out-of-state student could forgo Michigan for New York University, the nation's largest private school with nearly double the number of faculty.
Are you freakin' kiddin' me? $160K to attend Kalamazoo College?!?
You're better off taking that money, running off to Mexico and blowing it all on hookers and weed.
You'd have to be completely and utterly insane to pay those prices to go to those colleges. You'll never be able to pay back the opportunity cost of capital ever!
Education is a good thing. This is hardly worth debating about.
However, it doesn't have infinite value. It has finite value in relation to the income that you are going to pull down on the basis of that education. This should also be obvious!
Not understanding this, these kids are totally screwed.
The cash-strapped state of Michigan is looking to save money any way it can, and some political leaders have suggested essentially privatizing the state's flagship university. While formally turning the school into a private university would be tricky — requiring legislative approval, a constitutional amendment, and the support of the university's Board of Regents — legislators have proposed eliminating the $327 million in funding that the state provides to the university each year. Making up the state's contribution, however, would require an endowment on the order of $16 billion, a nearly impossible task even in flush times.
Traditionally, state universities provided an affordable education for its residents by offering subsidized in-state tuition. For Lansing native Anneke Stadt, a sophomore nursing student, the $11,037 tuition is the main reason she's at the University of Michigan. Stadt says she looked into private schools like Hope College ($33,000 tuition) and Kalamazoo College ($38,000 tuition). "I couldn't really afford them, though," she explains, "so I hedged my bets with the public school."
The struggling economy is forcing even wealthy families to look for the best value for their tuition dollars. For just $5,000 more in tuition, an out-of-state student could forgo Michigan for New York University, the nation's largest private school with nearly double the number of faculty.
Are you freakin' kiddin' me? $160K to attend Kalamazoo College?!?
You're better off taking that money, running off to Mexico and blowing it all on hookers and weed.
You'd have to be completely and utterly insane to pay those prices to go to those colleges. You'll never be able to pay back the opportunity cost of capital ever!
Education is a good thing. This is hardly worth debating about.
However, it doesn't have infinite value. It has finite value in relation to the income that you are going to pull down on the basis of that education. This should also be obvious!
Not understanding this, these kids are totally screwed.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Stimulate Me, Baby!
Reuters reports: Global economic crisis hits German sex industry
BERLIN (Reuters) - It did not take long for the world financial crisis to affect the world's oldest profession in Germany.
In one of the few countries where prostitution is legal, and unusually transparent, the industry has responded with an economic stimulus package of its own: modern marketing tools, rebates and gimmicks to boost falling demand.
Some brothels have cut prices or added free promotions while others have introduced all-inclusive flat-rate fees. Free shuttle buses, discounts for seniors and taxi drivers, as well as "day passes" are among marketing strategies designed to keep business going.
"Times are tough for us too," said Karin Ahrens, who manages the "Yes, Sir" brothel in Hanover. She told Reuters revenue had dropped by 30 percent at her establishment while turnover had fallen by as much as 50 percent at other clubs.
"We're definitely feeling the crisis. Clients are being tight with their money. They're afraid. You can't charge for the extras any more and there is pressure to cut prices. Everyone wants a deal. Special promotions are essential these days."
It's time for a "stimulus" package!
BERLIN (Reuters) - It did not take long for the world financial crisis to affect the world's oldest profession in Germany.
In one of the few countries where prostitution is legal, and unusually transparent, the industry has responded with an economic stimulus package of its own: modern marketing tools, rebates and gimmicks to boost falling demand.
Some brothels have cut prices or added free promotions while others have introduced all-inclusive flat-rate fees. Free shuttle buses, discounts for seniors and taxi drivers, as well as "day passes" are among marketing strategies designed to keep business going.
"Times are tough for us too," said Karin Ahrens, who manages the "Yes, Sir" brothel in Hanover. She told Reuters revenue had dropped by 30 percent at her establishment while turnover had fallen by as much as 50 percent at other clubs.
"We're definitely feeling the crisis. Clients are being tight with their money. They're afraid. You can't charge for the extras any more and there is pressure to cut prices. Everyone wants a deal. Special promotions are essential these days."
It's time for a "stimulus" package!
Jump, Jump
The New York Times reports: Freddie Mac Executive Is Found Dead
David B. Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of the troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead Wednesday morning at his home in Northern Virginia, the police said.
The executive apparently committed suicide by hanging himself, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.
Mood Music:
David B. Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of the troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead Wednesday morning at his home in Northern Virginia, the police said.
The executive apparently committed suicide by hanging himself, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.
Mood Music:
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Earth to Planet Harvard, Earth to Planet Harvard ...
The New York Times has an article by Greg Mankiw: It May Be Time for the Fed to Go Negative.
Let’s start with the basics: What is the best way for an economy to escape a recession?
Until recently, most economists relied on monetary policy. Recessions result from an insufficient demand for goods and services — and so, the thinking goes, our central bank can remedy this deficiency by cutting interest rates. Lower interest rates encourage households and businesses to borrow and spend. More spending means more demand for goods and services, which leads to greater employment for workers to meet that demand.
The problem today, it seems, is that the Federal Reserve has done just about as much interest rate cutting as it can. Its target for the federal funds rate is about zero, so it has turned to other tools, such as buying longer-term debt securities, to get the economy going again. But the efficacy of those tools is uncertain, and there are risks associated with them.
The problem with negative interest rates, however, is quickly apparent: nobody would lend on those terms. Rather than giving your money to a borrower who promises a negative return, it would be better to stick the cash in your mattress. Because holding money promises a return of exactly zero, lenders cannot offer less.
Unless, that is, we figure out a way to make holding money less attractive.
Imagine that the Fed were to announce that, a year from today, it would pick a digit from zero to 9 out of a hat. All currency with a serial number ending in that digit would no longer be legal tender. Suddenly, the expected return to holding currency would become negative 10 percent.
That move would free the Fed to cut interest rates below zero. People would be delighted to lend money at negative 3 percent, since losing 3 percent is better than losing 10.
Of course, some people might decide that at those rates, they would rather spend the money — for example, by buying a new car. But because expanding aggregate demand is precisely the goal of the interest rate cut, such an incentive isn’t a flaw — it’s a benefit.
Or they could just move their money into commodities or gold or a foreign currency.
Did that thought occur to you, Professor?
The reason that zero is the lower bound for interest rates is because you can always hold "stuff" - non-perishables ideally, but even "suitable" perishables.
People in Romania hoarded cars during the post-communist regime because a depreciating car "appreciated" faster than inflation.
It's the same reason that the Chinese and Indians hoard land and gold. Completely non-productive land and completely non-productive gold - a totally asinine thing in any economic paradigm actually.
So you could just hold gold. Or silver. Or even a foreign currency that didn't have such an asinine policy.
If they outlaw holding gold, you can hold copper, or toilet paper. It simply doesn't matter as long as it is suitably non-perishable.
And then you go out and borrow with the rest of society at that negative rate, and stick it in more gold or more copper.
Isn't this freakin' obvious? Do you have to be a Warren Buffett to grasp this basic point?
And this man is a Professor at Harvard? Jeebus! No wonder we're screwed.
Let’s start with the basics: What is the best way for an economy to escape a recession?
Until recently, most economists relied on monetary policy. Recessions result from an insufficient demand for goods and services — and so, the thinking goes, our central bank can remedy this deficiency by cutting interest rates. Lower interest rates encourage households and businesses to borrow and spend. More spending means more demand for goods and services, which leads to greater employment for workers to meet that demand.
The problem today, it seems, is that the Federal Reserve has done just about as much interest rate cutting as it can. Its target for the federal funds rate is about zero, so it has turned to other tools, such as buying longer-term debt securities, to get the economy going again. But the efficacy of those tools is uncertain, and there are risks associated with them.
The problem with negative interest rates, however, is quickly apparent: nobody would lend on those terms. Rather than giving your money to a borrower who promises a negative return, it would be better to stick the cash in your mattress. Because holding money promises a return of exactly zero, lenders cannot offer less.
Unless, that is, we figure out a way to make holding money less attractive.
Imagine that the Fed were to announce that, a year from today, it would pick a digit from zero to 9 out of a hat. All currency with a serial number ending in that digit would no longer be legal tender. Suddenly, the expected return to holding currency would become negative 10 percent.
That move would free the Fed to cut interest rates below zero. People would be delighted to lend money at negative 3 percent, since losing 3 percent is better than losing 10.
Of course, some people might decide that at those rates, they would rather spend the money — for example, by buying a new car. But because expanding aggregate demand is precisely the goal of the interest rate cut, such an incentive isn’t a flaw — it’s a benefit.
Or they could just move their money into commodities or gold or a foreign currency.
Did that thought occur to you, Professor?
The reason that zero is the lower bound for interest rates is because you can always hold "stuff" - non-perishables ideally, but even "suitable" perishables.
People in Romania hoarded cars during the post-communist regime because a depreciating car "appreciated" faster than inflation.
It's the same reason that the Chinese and Indians hoard land and gold. Completely non-productive land and completely non-productive gold - a totally asinine thing in any economic paradigm actually.
So you could just hold gold. Or silver. Or even a foreign currency that didn't have such an asinine policy.
If they outlaw holding gold, you can hold copper, or toilet paper. It simply doesn't matter as long as it is suitably non-perishable.
And then you go out and borrow with the rest of society at that negative rate, and stick it in more gold or more copper.
Isn't this freakin' obvious? Do you have to be a Warren Buffett to grasp this basic point?
And this man is a Professor at Harvard? Jeebus! No wonder we're screwed.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Soundness and Correctness
The New York Times reports: General Growth Properties Files for Bankruptcy
General Growth Properties, one of the largest mall operators in the nation, filed for bankruptcy early Thursday morning in one of the biggest commercial real estate collapses in United States history.
Founded in 1954 and expanded through a series of acquisitions — topped by a $12.6 billion deal for the Rouse Company in 2004 — the company has a huge retail presence that has served as a barometer for the troubles bedeviling the American retail market.
“Our operational model is sound,” Thomas H. Nolan Jr., the company’s president and chief operating officer, said on a conference call early Thursday morning.
Clearly, so "sound" that you went bankrupt.
General Growth Properties, one of the largest mall operators in the nation, filed for bankruptcy early Thursday morning in one of the biggest commercial real estate collapses in United States history.
Founded in 1954 and expanded through a series of acquisitions — topped by a $12.6 billion deal for the Rouse Company in 2004 — the company has a huge retail presence that has served as a barometer for the troubles bedeviling the American retail market.
“Our operational model is sound,” Thomas H. Nolan Jr., the company’s president and chief operating officer, said on a conference call early Thursday morning.
Clearly, so "sound" that you went bankrupt.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Boozie Ozzie
CBS Marketwatch reports: Australia's leading growth index falls to 26-year low.
A leading economic index for Australia fell in February to its weakest level in more than two decades, pointing to a possible heavy contraction for the nation's economy, according to data released Wednesday.
The headline month-on-month rate contracted 0.3% in February from January to an annualized rate of 5.1%.
Westpac now expects the Australian economy to contract by 1% in 2009 -- the first time it would do so since World War II, according to chief economist Bill Evans. But Westpac also predicted that will be the low point of the cycle.
So it's currently contracting at 5.1% (annualized) and you expect some "magic" to temper it to 1% over the rest of the year?
Care to share what this "magic" will be?
A leading economic index for Australia fell in February to its weakest level in more than two decades, pointing to a possible heavy contraction for the nation's economy, according to data released Wednesday.
The headline month-on-month rate contracted 0.3% in February from January to an annualized rate of 5.1%.
Westpac now expects the Australian economy to contract by 1% in 2009 -- the first time it would do so since World War II, according to chief economist Bill Evans. But Westpac also predicted that will be the low point of the cycle.
So it's currently contracting at 5.1% (annualized) and you expect some "magic" to temper it to 1% over the rest of the year?
Care to share what this "magic" will be?
Sing-a-poor?
Yahoo! reports: Singapore economy plummets 20 pct in first quarter.
Singapore's economy plummeted nearly 20 percent in the first quarter, its biggest contraction ever, flagging a miserable start to the year for other export-dependent Asian nations grappling with the worst global slump in decades.
The government now expects the economy to shrink between 6 percent and 9 percent this year from a previous forecast of a drop between 2 percent and 5 percent, the ministry said in a statement. The 2009 growth forecast has now been cut three times.
If you need to cut your forecast thrice in three months, your forecast is shit!
And you've already dropped 20% and your forecast is 9%? How exactly does that work?
FAIL.
Singapore's economy plummeted nearly 20 percent in the first quarter, its biggest contraction ever, flagging a miserable start to the year for other export-dependent Asian nations grappling with the worst global slump in decades.
The government now expects the economy to shrink between 6 percent and 9 percent this year from a previous forecast of a drop between 2 percent and 5 percent, the ministry said in a statement. The 2009 growth forecast has now been cut three times.
If you need to cut your forecast thrice in three months, your forecast is shit!
And you've already dropped 20% and your forecast is 9%? How exactly does that work?
FAIL.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The "Charitable" Impulse
Tufts Daily reports: Tufts accepts 26 percent of pool, suspends need-blind admissions.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions reported a 4 percent drop in applications this year but accepted 26 percent of applicants to the Class of 2013 -- down less than 1 percent from last year, the Daily learned yesterday, the date by which all applicants were notified of a decision.
The admissions office also stopped practicing a need-blind admissions policy toward the tail end of the process, a decision that affected five percent of applicants, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Coffin said.
So now that you can no longer pretend not to be a business, you aren't?
You need cash, you are selling a service, and you need to survive? SHOCKER!!!
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions reported a 4 percent drop in applications this year but accepted 26 percent of applicants to the Class of 2013 -- down less than 1 percent from last year, the Daily learned yesterday, the date by which all applicants were notified of a decision.
The admissions office also stopped practicing a need-blind admissions policy toward the tail end of the process, a decision that affected five percent of applicants, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Coffin said.
So now that you can no longer pretend not to be a business, you aren't?
You need cash, you are selling a service, and you need to survive? SHOCKER!!!
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
The Other Emerald City Shaketh (and it's not the Big One)
Reuters reports: San Francisco Office Rents Fall Most Since 2001
San Francisco office rents dropped 24 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the biggest decline since the dot-com crash in 2001, as the recession cut jobs and companies returned space to the market.
It's the beauty of rents. Either you got it or you don't got it. There's no fakin' it!
San Francisco office rents dropped 24 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the biggest decline since the dot-com crash in 2001, as the recession cut jobs and companies returned space to the market.
It's the beauty of rents. Either you got it or you don't got it. There's no fakin' it!
In Which We Plumb Yet Another "First"...
The New York Times reports: Muni Bonds May Face Downgrade.
Moody’s Investors Service assigned a negative outlook to the creditworthiness of all local governments in the United States, the agency said Tuesday, the first time it had ever issued such a blanket report on municipalities.
There do seem to be an awful lot of "first times" these days, don't they?
Moody’s Investors Service assigned a negative outlook to the creditworthiness of all local governments in the United States, the agency said Tuesday, the first time it had ever issued such a blanket report on municipalities.
There do seem to be an awful lot of "first times" these days, don't they?
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The Gilded Cage
The AP reports: Hard-up Nicolas Cage sells German castle.
The global recession has forced Hollywood star Nicolas Cage to tighten his purse strings and sell his sumptuous castle in Bavaria in southern Germany, the actor told a magazine Tuesday.
Cage bought the 28-room Neidstein castle with 165 hectares (410 acres) of forest and gardens two years ago, reportedly paying 2.6 million dollars for the property, which dates back to the 16th century.
Perhaps this explains why he's in a whole buncha C-movies lately!
The global recession has forced Hollywood star Nicolas Cage to tighten his purse strings and sell his sumptuous castle in Bavaria in southern Germany, the actor told a magazine Tuesday.
Cage bought the 28-room Neidstein castle with 165 hectares (410 acres) of forest and gardens two years ago, reportedly paying 2.6 million dollars for the property, which dates back to the 16th century.
Perhaps this explains why he's in a whole buncha C-movies lately!
The Emerald City Shaketh
Bloomberg reports: Manhattan Office Rents Fall Most in Quarter Century.
Manhattan office rents fell the most in at least 25 years in the first quarter as financial companies slashed jobs and relinquished space in the U.S. recession.
Rents dropped 6 percent from the fourth quarter to $65.01 a square foot, commercial property broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc. said in a report today. The decline is the most in records dating back to 1984.
Rents are “falling faster than they did in the last two recessions,” Harbert said.
Firstly, any fool could've seen this. The optimistic cash-flow projections of the cheerleaders are going to get torpedoed.
Same for the home-pawners who plan to sit this out by "renting their place". Rents adjust very rapidly because you can either pay it or you can't. There's no "magical" place that rents can come from. Either you have the means or you don't.
Manhattan office rents fell the most in at least 25 years in the first quarter as financial companies slashed jobs and relinquished space in the U.S. recession.
Rents dropped 6 percent from the fourth quarter to $65.01 a square foot, commercial property broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc. said in a report today. The decline is the most in records dating back to 1984.
Rents are “falling faster than they did in the last two recessions,” Harbert said.
Firstly, any fool could've seen this. The optimistic cash-flow projections of the cheerleaders are going to get torpedoed.
Same for the home-pawners who plan to sit this out by "renting their place". Rents adjust very rapidly because you can either pay it or you can't. There's no "magical" place that rents can come from. Either you have the means or you don't.
In Which the Media Makes GD1 Comparisons Again
Bloomberg reports: Default Rate Surges to Highest Since Depression, Moody’s Says.
Thirty-five companies defaulted in March, the highest number in a single month since the Great Depression, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
The rate at which speculative-grade corporate borrowers worldwide failed to meet their obligations rose to 7 percent from 4.1 percent at the end of last year, Moody’s said in a report today. So far this year, 79 companies rated by Moody’s have defaulted, the New York-based ratings firm said.
Thirty-five companies defaulted in March, the highest number in a single month since the Great Depression, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
The rate at which speculative-grade corporate borrowers worldwide failed to meet their obligations rose to 7 percent from 4.1 percent at the end of last year, Moody’s said in a report today. So far this year, 79 companies rated by Moody’s have defaulted, the New York-based ratings firm said.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
The Green Revolution
Reuters reports: One in 10 Americans receiving food stamps.
A record 32.2 million people -- one in every 10 Americans -- received food stamps at latest count, the government said on Thursday, a reflection of the recession now in its 16th month.
A record 32.2 million people -- one in every 10 Americans -- received food stamps at latest count, the government said on Thursday, a reflection of the recession now in its 16th month.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
In Which the EE Explains Bayesian Priors ...
Reuters reports: U.S. private sector axes 742,000 jobs in March.
Private employers cut jobs by a record 742,000 in March versus a 706,000 revised cut in February that was originally reported at 697,000 jobs, said ADP, which has been carrying out the survey since 2001.
Economists had expected 655,000 private-sector job cuts in March in the ADP report, according to a recent Reuters poll.
These economists are total morons.
The base case Bayesian prior has to be last-month's estimate ("this month will look exactly like last month.") If you can't even beat this, you haven't a freakin' clue. (And we're not at an inflection so this criticism is perfectly justified.)
Even more shockingly, since this is the "consensus" which is like an "average" or a "central tendency", we can conclude that virtually ALL of these so-called economists have to have been wrong.
They should just use chicken entrails instead. Would be more honest.
Private employers cut jobs by a record 742,000 in March versus a 706,000 revised cut in February that was originally reported at 697,000 jobs, said ADP, which has been carrying out the survey since 2001.
Economists had expected 655,000 private-sector job cuts in March in the ADP report, according to a recent Reuters poll.
These economists are total morons.
The base case Bayesian prior has to be last-month's estimate ("this month will look exactly like last month.") If you can't even beat this, you haven't a freakin' clue. (And we're not at an inflection so this criticism is perfectly justified.)
Even more shockingly, since this is the "consensus" which is like an "average" or a "central tendency", we can conclude that virtually ALL of these so-called economists have to have been wrong.
They should just use chicken entrails instead. Would be more honest.
Adrift
From the New York Times: Boats Too Costly to Keep Are Littering Coastlines.
Boat owners are abandoning ship.
They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright.
The bad economy is creating a flotilla of forsaken boats. While there is no national census of abandoned boats, officials in coastal states are worried the problem will only grow worse as unemployment and financial stress continue to rise. Several states are even drafting laws against derelicts and say they are aggressively starting to pursue delinquent owners.
Some of those disposing of their boats are in the same bind as overstretched homeowners: they face steep payments on an asset that is diminishing in value and decide not to continue. They either default on the debt or take bolder measures.
Marina and maritime officials around the country say they believe, however, that most of the abandoned vessels cluttering their waters are fully paid for. They are expensive-to-maintain toys that have lost their appeal.
The owners cannot sell them, because the secondhand market is overwhelmed. They cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars a month mooring and maintaining them. And they do not have the thousands of dollars required to properly dispose of them.
If you knew this ahead of time as "inevitable," pat yourself on the back!
Boat owners are abandoning ship.
They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright.
The bad economy is creating a flotilla of forsaken boats. While there is no national census of abandoned boats, officials in coastal states are worried the problem will only grow worse as unemployment and financial stress continue to rise. Several states are even drafting laws against derelicts and say they are aggressively starting to pursue delinquent owners.
Some of those disposing of their boats are in the same bind as overstretched homeowners: they face steep payments on an asset that is diminishing in value and decide not to continue. They either default on the debt or take bolder measures.
Marina and maritime officials around the country say they believe, however, that most of the abandoned vessels cluttering their waters are fully paid for. They are expensive-to-maintain toys that have lost their appeal.
The owners cannot sell them, because the secondhand market is overwhelmed. They cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars a month mooring and maintaining them. And they do not have the thousands of dollars required to properly dispose of them.
If you knew this ahead of time as "inevitable," pat yourself on the back!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Boom Boom Pow
The Telegraph reports: 'Neighbour from hell' blew up his own home before bailiffs could evict him.
Donald Joyce, 58, was due to be removed from his two-bedroom bungalow in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, by council bailiffs at 10.30am.
But at 9.45am several explosions obliterated the building, blasting off the roof, flattening a brick wall and launching a giant radio aerial across the cul-de-sac.
The whereabouts Mr Joyce, who is wheelchair-bound and partially sighted, are unknown. He has not been seen since the explosion.
Donald Joyce, 58, was due to be removed from his two-bedroom bungalow in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, by council bailiffs at 10.30am.
But at 9.45am several explosions obliterated the building, blasting off the roof, flattening a brick wall and launching a giant radio aerial across the cul-de-sac.
The whereabouts Mr Joyce, who is wheelchair-bound and partially sighted, are unknown. He has not been seen since the explosion.
Reality is Better than Statistics
From Reuters: Most housing indexes overstate downturn -analysts.
Most closely watched U.S. home price measures lack enough local data to truly reflect house values and are overstating the extent of price drops, executives at a real estate analytics firm said on Monday.
An index is merely an average. It can be badly constructed but otherwise it is exactly what it is - an average, and indicative of the tendency of a population even though it may not reflect the distribution.
Now, the real question is whether the RE analytics firm might actually have a self-interest in "boosting confidence".
Of course, one cannot expect the "superior brain trust" of the MSM to think through these things.
Most closely watched U.S. home price measures lack enough local data to truly reflect house values and are overstating the extent of price drops, executives at a real estate analytics firm said on Monday.
An index is merely an average. It can be badly constructed but otherwise it is exactly what it is - an average, and indicative of the tendency of a population even though it may not reflect the distribution.
Now, the real question is whether the RE analytics firm might actually have a self-interest in "boosting confidence".
Of course, one cannot expect the "superior brain trust" of the MSM to think through these things.
Negative Home Prices (or Pass the Ticking Tax Time Bomb)
The New York Times reports: Banks Starting to Walk Away on Foreclosures.
Mercy James thought she had lost her rental property here to foreclosure. A date for a sheriff’s sale had been set, and notices about the foreclosure process were piling up in her mailbox.
Ms. James had the tenants move out, and soon her white house at the corner of Thomas and Maple Streets fell into the hands of looters and vandals, and then, into disrepair. Dejected and broke, Ms. James said she salvaged but a lesson from her loss.
So imagine her surprise when the City of South Bend contacted her recently, demanding that she resume maintenance on the property. The sheriff’s sale had been canceled at the last minute, leaving the property title — and a world of trouble — in her name.
City officials and housing advocates here and in cities as varied as Buffalo, Kansas City, Mo., and Jacksonville, Fla., say they are seeing an unsettling development: Banks are quietly declining to take possession of properties at the end of the foreclosure process, most often because the cost of the ordeal — from legal fees to maintenance — exceeds the diminishing value of the real estate.
Without jobs in the region, the house is worthless. Who's going to pay the insurance, maintenance and property tax year after year?
So it shouldn't be a terrible surprise that the banks find it cheaper to just hand the house back to the mortgagee and say, "Your problem."
“I thought, ‘What kind of game is this?’ ” Ms. James, 41, said while picking at trash at the house, now so worthless the city plans to demolish it — another bill for which she will be liable.
Not a game that you seem to be very good at, daah-link!
Mercy James thought she had lost her rental property here to foreclosure. A date for a sheriff’s sale had been set, and notices about the foreclosure process were piling up in her mailbox.
Ms. James had the tenants move out, and soon her white house at the corner of Thomas and Maple Streets fell into the hands of looters and vandals, and then, into disrepair. Dejected and broke, Ms. James said she salvaged but a lesson from her loss.
So imagine her surprise when the City of South Bend contacted her recently, demanding that she resume maintenance on the property. The sheriff’s sale had been canceled at the last minute, leaving the property title — and a world of trouble — in her name.
City officials and housing advocates here and in cities as varied as Buffalo, Kansas City, Mo., and Jacksonville, Fla., say they are seeing an unsettling development: Banks are quietly declining to take possession of properties at the end of the foreclosure process, most often because the cost of the ordeal — from legal fees to maintenance — exceeds the diminishing value of the real estate.
Without jobs in the region, the house is worthless. Who's going to pay the insurance, maintenance and property tax year after year?
So it shouldn't be a terrible surprise that the banks find it cheaper to just hand the house back to the mortgagee and say, "Your problem."
“I thought, ‘What kind of game is this?’ ” Ms. James, 41, said while picking at trash at the house, now so worthless the city plans to demolish it — another bill for which she will be liable.
Not a game that you seem to be very good at, daah-link!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Queer Eye for the Banker Guy
The Audacity of Dopes
From the Washington News Tribune: What you learn when big money goes away.
As a rookie broker at a mom-and-pop mortgage company in Federal Way, Rob Collins had a killer month writing loans in the frothy, frenzied 2005 housing market.
He made $37,000. So he took $5,000 in cash and his fiancée, Heidi, to Bellevue Square.
“I told her, ‘We’re not leaving here until we spend it all,’” Rob recalled this week.
They spent it all right. Heidi bought a pair of designer Richmond jeans, diamond stud earrings, and some odds and ends to supplement her wardrobe. Rob, always impeccably dressed, bought clothes too, including an Italian leather jacket.
Over the following 18 plentiful months, Rob bought a used BMW M3 high-performance sports car, upgraded to a better mortgage company, bought a Hilltop house in Tacoma with Heidi, then married her.
He thought life couldn’t get much better than that.
It didn’t.
Last June, Rob, 29, lost his job writing mortgages for U.S. Bank because he couldn’t write enough approved loans to reach the $1 million minimum his bosses set for him. He sold the M3 immediately and hasn’t owned a car since. He and Heidi, 26, have fallen four months behind paying Countrywide, which owns the loan on their home. Countrywide calls every day asking for its money.
By chance, on a trip to Starbucks in Federal Way last month, I found Collins sweeping the floor before his turn taking orders at the drive-through window. He rides the bus to and from work.
“Starbucks is a great place to work,” Rob said. “I make $8.65 an hour. But I’m up for a raise here shortly.”
And Heidi? She just took a third job. Rob calls the job “swimsuit model.” The wisp of a woman walks the edge of the boxing ring at the Tulalip Casino Resort in Marysville between rounds holding up a placard with the number of the next round.
How are you doing with all this? I asked her.
“Not well,” Heidi said. She choked up. She doesn’t like to talk about it much. The mental and emotional strain, at times, becomes unbearable.
This is just freakin' AWWWWSUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
As a rookie broker at a mom-and-pop mortgage company in Federal Way, Rob Collins had a killer month writing loans in the frothy, frenzied 2005 housing market.
He made $37,000. So he took $5,000 in cash and his fiancée, Heidi, to Bellevue Square.
“I told her, ‘We’re not leaving here until we spend it all,’” Rob recalled this week.
They spent it all right. Heidi bought a pair of designer Richmond jeans, diamond stud earrings, and some odds and ends to supplement her wardrobe. Rob, always impeccably dressed, bought clothes too, including an Italian leather jacket.
Over the following 18 plentiful months, Rob bought a used BMW M3 high-performance sports car, upgraded to a better mortgage company, bought a Hilltop house in Tacoma with Heidi, then married her.
He thought life couldn’t get much better than that.
It didn’t.
Last June, Rob, 29, lost his job writing mortgages for U.S. Bank because he couldn’t write enough approved loans to reach the $1 million minimum his bosses set for him. He sold the M3 immediately and hasn’t owned a car since. He and Heidi, 26, have fallen four months behind paying Countrywide, which owns the loan on their home. Countrywide calls every day asking for its money.
By chance, on a trip to Starbucks in Federal Way last month, I found Collins sweeping the floor before his turn taking orders at the drive-through window. He rides the bus to and from work.
“Starbucks is a great place to work,” Rob said. “I make $8.65 an hour. But I’m up for a raise here shortly.”
And Heidi? She just took a third job. Rob calls the job “swimsuit model.” The wisp of a woman walks the edge of the boxing ring at the Tulalip Casino Resort in Marysville between rounds holding up a placard with the number of the next round.
How are you doing with all this? I asked her.
“Not well,” Heidi said. She choked up. She doesn’t like to talk about it much. The mental and emotional strain, at times, becomes unbearable.
This is just freakin' AWWWWSUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Race to the Bottom
The Economist reports on: Sink or swim.
LIKE unwelcome guests who will not leave, 453 container ships, 11% of global capacity, now float outside the harbours of Hong Kong, Singapore and other South-East Asian ports. They are unwanted by their hosts as well as their customers. In recent days China has quietly let it be known that it wants to rid its territorial waters of these nautical squatters.
Only five years ago huge demand from China meant that all these ships, and more, were desperately needed. This had a dramatic impact first on shipping rates, and then on supply (see chart). Between the end of 2006 and July 2008, shipyards received enough commissions to double the world’s fleet. Now these new ships—more than 9,000 vessels—are taking to the water just as demand has collapsed. The world is awash with ships.
To see how the recent boom and bust has affected value, a Hong Kong broker cites a 150-tonne “Cape class” ship that sold in 2003 for $18.5m in the used market. Critical to the price was the prevailing charter rate, then $15,000 a day. By last summer this had risen to $175,000 a day, and an identical ship sold for $85m. Rates peaked shortly thereafter at $300,000. Today rates are back where they were in 2003. Rather than try to find a buyer for another identical ship, albeit one that needed repairs, the owner dumped it for $7m to be used as scrap.
Orders for new ships have, not surprisingly, collapsed and scrutiny has shifted from what can be bought to what can be cancelled: nothing, it turns out, without great effort. South Korea’s shipyards, the global leaders, have learnt from previous busts. They typically demand 20% up front, a further 60% during construction, and the final 20% payment upon delivery. Walk away and you lose a fortune.
Somebody actually learnt from the past?!?
WOW!!! That's quite a feat. Send out the Nobel committee!
Of course, that just means that somebody's bondholders or stockholders are going to be taking that bloodbath not the shipbuilders.
But the real point is that the world is awash in an absurd amount of excess capacity. It will be more than a decade before this stuff normalizes.
And that in case you didn't notice is also extraordinarily deflationary.
LIKE unwelcome guests who will not leave, 453 container ships, 11% of global capacity, now float outside the harbours of Hong Kong, Singapore and other South-East Asian ports. They are unwanted by their hosts as well as their customers. In recent days China has quietly let it be known that it wants to rid its territorial waters of these nautical squatters.
Only five years ago huge demand from China meant that all these ships, and more, were desperately needed. This had a dramatic impact first on shipping rates, and then on supply (see chart). Between the end of 2006 and July 2008, shipyards received enough commissions to double the world’s fleet. Now these new ships—more than 9,000 vessels—are taking to the water just as demand has collapsed. The world is awash with ships.
To see how the recent boom and bust has affected value, a Hong Kong broker cites a 150-tonne “Cape class” ship that sold in 2003 for $18.5m in the used market. Critical to the price was the prevailing charter rate, then $15,000 a day. By last summer this had risen to $175,000 a day, and an identical ship sold for $85m. Rates peaked shortly thereafter at $300,000. Today rates are back where they were in 2003. Rather than try to find a buyer for another identical ship, albeit one that needed repairs, the owner dumped it for $7m to be used as scrap.
Orders for new ships have, not surprisingly, collapsed and scrutiny has shifted from what can be bought to what can be cancelled: nothing, it turns out, without great effort. South Korea’s shipyards, the global leaders, have learnt from previous busts. They typically demand 20% up front, a further 60% during construction, and the final 20% payment upon delivery. Walk away and you lose a fortune.
Somebody actually learnt from the past?!?
WOW!!! That's quite a feat. Send out the Nobel committee!
Of course, that just means that somebody's bondholders or stockholders are going to be taking that bloodbath not the shipbuilders.
But the real point is that the world is awash in an absurd amount of excess capacity. It will be more than a decade before this stuff normalizes.
And that in case you didn't notice is also extraordinarily deflationary.
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Sexy Seven Sisters
Bloomberg reports: Jobless Rate Exceeds 10% in Three More U.S. States.
Nevada, North Carolina and Oregon last month joined the four other states that had previously climbed above 10 percent, according to Labor Department data released today in Washington. Michigan, at 12 percent, remained the state with the highest unemployment rate, followed by South Carolina at 11 percent and Oregon at 10.8. California and Rhode Island bring the total number of states to seven.
Nevada, North Carolina and Oregon last month joined the four other states that had previously climbed above 10 percent, according to Labor Department data released today in Washington. Michigan, at 12 percent, remained the state with the highest unemployment rate, followed by South Carolina at 11 percent and Oregon at 10.8. California and Rhode Island bring the total number of states to seven.
Whitey Whitey, Quite McTightey
The Financial Times reports: Brazil’s leader blames white people for crisis.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on “white people with blue eyes” and said it was wrong that black and indigenous people should pay for white people’s mistakes.
This is so unbelievably stupid that it's not even worth writing a tirade about.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on “white people with blue eyes” and said it was wrong that black and indigenous people should pay for white people’s mistakes.
This is so unbelievably stupid that it's not even worth writing a tirade about.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
That Decoupling Feeling
From Bloomberg: China Industrial Profits Fall First Time on Record.
Chinese industrial companies’ profits dropped for the first time on record as the global recession cut demand for exports from the world’s third-largest economy.
Net income sank 37.3 percent in the first two months of 2009 from a year earlier to 219.1 billion yuan ($32 billion), the statistics bureau said today. Profits expanded 16.5 percent in the same period last year. Records began in February 2007.
You know,if you had asked any 19th-century economist, they would've told you that the fate of borrower and borrowee hung in tandem.
Only in this absurd 21st-century did we come up with the equally absurd notion known as "decoupling".
Now that Brazorussia-Chindia have "decoupled", how's that working out for them, huh?
Chinese industrial companies’ profits dropped for the first time on record as the global recession cut demand for exports from the world’s third-largest economy.
Net income sank 37.3 percent in the first two months of 2009 from a year earlier to 219.1 billion yuan ($32 billion), the statistics bureau said today. Profits expanded 16.5 percent in the same period last year. Records began in February 2007.
You know,if you had asked any 19th-century economist, they would've told you that the fate of borrower and borrowee hung in tandem.
Only in this absurd 21st-century did we come up with the equally absurd notion known as "decoupling".
Now that Brazorussia-Chindia have "decoupled", how's that working out for them, huh?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Unicorn Stories for Everyone!
From the San Diego Union Tribune: Housing construction remains low in county.
Borre Winckel, chief executive of the San Diego County Building Industry Association, said building might improve by year's end if the economy improves, foreclosures drop and builders sell off their existing inventory.
That's a lot of "if's" big-boy!
If there was a unicorn, and if the unicorn were to fly, and if the unicorn were to crap candy out of its ass while flying then I too would be able to collect the candy raining from the sky.
Borre Winckel, chief executive of the San Diego County Building Industry Association, said building might improve by year's end if the economy improves, foreclosures drop and builders sell off their existing inventory.
That's a lot of "if's" big-boy!
If there was a unicorn, and if the unicorn were to fly, and if the unicorn were to crap candy out of its ass while flying then I too would be able to collect the candy raining from the sky.
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
From the AP: Home prices post 6.3 pct annual decline in January.
A government report says U.S. home prices fell 6.3 percent in January from the same month last year.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency says prices, on a seasonally adjusted basis, rose 1.7 percent from December to January.
Home sales included in January's data were weighted toward areas that haven't borne as much of the brunt of the housing recession, the agency says.
Oh good! We thought you might be trying to manipulate the data or something. But nooooooooooo!!! You just weighted the data towards areas that didn't fall as much. Of course, that would make the data particularly useful.
FAIL!!!
A government report says U.S. home prices fell 6.3 percent in January from the same month last year.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency says prices, on a seasonally adjusted basis, rose 1.7 percent from December to January.
Home sales included in January's data were weighted toward areas that haven't borne as much of the brunt of the housing recession, the agency says.
Oh good! We thought you might be trying to manipulate the data or something. But nooooooooooo!!! You just weighted the data towards areas that didn't fall as much. Of course, that would make the data particularly useful.
FAIL!!!
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Japanese Example
Bloomberg reports: Japan Home Prices Slump to 24-Year Low as Recession Deepens.
Japanese residential land prices fell to a 24-year low as job losses and wage cuts discouraged homebuyers, while tighter credit markets choked off funding for property developers.
Residential land prices fell 3.2 percent in 2008 to the lowest since 1984 and average commercial land prices dropped 4.7 percent to a three-year low, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said today in a report. Overall property prices declined 3.5 percent, erasing two years of gains that followed a 15-year slump.
Well, hello there! America-of-the-future!
Japanese residential land prices fell to a 24-year low as job losses and wage cuts discouraged homebuyers, while tighter credit markets choked off funding for property developers.
Residential land prices fell 3.2 percent in 2008 to the lowest since 1984 and average commercial land prices dropped 4.7 percent to a three-year low, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said today in a report. Overall property prices declined 3.5 percent, erasing two years of gains that followed a 15-year slump.
Well, hello there! America-of-the-future!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Florida Death Spiral
The AP reports: New condo loan rules could hurt distressed areas.
Money is already tight at The Wilshire Condominium, and new lending rules threaten to make life even more difficult for it and other condos around the country.
Arthur Barr, a board member of the Wilshire homeowners association, estimates 30 percent of the owners in the 378-unit building in North Miami Beach are behind on their fees. That makes it difficult to pay for things like elevator repairs and gardening.
Now, Fannie Mae — the biggest player in the mortgage market — wants to ensure that if it's backing a loan for a condominium, the building is in good shape. If the building is brand new, Fannie Mae wants to be certain there are enough owners to pay for maintenance and preserve the value of the property.
Under the new regulations, Fannie Mae will reject any mortgage for a condo buyer if more than 15 percent of the other owners are delinquent on their association fees. What's more, Fannie Mae will only guarantee mortgages in new or newly converted condo developments if 70 percent of the units are sold or under contract.
They're toasted. They have, what? A fourteen-year supply of condos assuming "normal" growth.
Ooh, Florida! Ooh, Florida!
How fucked are you, good Florida!
Money is already tight at The Wilshire Condominium, and new lending rules threaten to make life even more difficult for it and other condos around the country.
Arthur Barr, a board member of the Wilshire homeowners association, estimates 30 percent of the owners in the 378-unit building in North Miami Beach are behind on their fees. That makes it difficult to pay for things like elevator repairs and gardening.
Now, Fannie Mae — the biggest player in the mortgage market — wants to ensure that if it's backing a loan for a condominium, the building is in good shape. If the building is brand new, Fannie Mae wants to be certain there are enough owners to pay for maintenance and preserve the value of the property.
Under the new regulations, Fannie Mae will reject any mortgage for a condo buyer if more than 15 percent of the other owners are delinquent on their association fees. What's more, Fannie Mae will only guarantee mortgages in new or newly converted condo developments if 70 percent of the units are sold or under contract.
They're toasted. They have, what? A fourteen-year supply of condos assuming "normal" growth.
Ooh, Florida! Ooh, Florida!
How fucked are you, good Florida!
Haircuts in Florida!
From the News Press: North Fort Myers country club on the auction block.
The old Lochmoor Country Club in North Fort Myers will be auctioned April 14 on the courthouse steps for more than $94 million - the biggest foreclosure in Lee County history, according to local real estate experts
The auction won't bring close to the $94 million, which consists of $79.1 million in loans plus interest and fees, said Fort Myers real estate broker Ed Bonkowski, who handled the Sheraton's sale in 1990.
Essentially, he said, the property is "a nondescript golf course and the water views" for homes that could be built there.
It probably would go for about $7 million, Bonkowski said.
So it will be auctioned for $94M but is likely to go for $7M. Chances are that anyone who is paying even that much is taking a hell of a risk because it's a freakin' golf course. If there's something that is disposable in this climate, it's a golf membership even if you're a golf fanatic (you can always play by paying cash.)
$94M to $7M.
Now that's a real fuckin' haircut!
The old Lochmoor Country Club in North Fort Myers will be auctioned April 14 on the courthouse steps for more than $94 million - the biggest foreclosure in Lee County history, according to local real estate experts
The auction won't bring close to the $94 million, which consists of $79.1 million in loans plus interest and fees, said Fort Myers real estate broker Ed Bonkowski, who handled the Sheraton's sale in 1990.
Essentially, he said, the property is "a nondescript golf course and the water views" for homes that could be built there.
It probably would go for about $7 million, Bonkowski said.
So it will be auctioned for $94M but is likely to go for $7M. Chances are that anyone who is paying even that much is taking a hell of a risk because it's a freakin' golf course. If there's something that is disposable in this climate, it's a golf membership even if you're a golf fanatic (you can always play by paying cash.)
$94M to $7M.
Now that's a real fuckin' haircut!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Hey there, Pizza Boy!
From ABC News: Down But Not Out: From Hedge Funds to Pizza Delivery.
For the first 45 years of Ken Karpman's life, everything was close to perfect.
He graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree and M.B.A., then got a high-paying job as an institutional equity sales trader. He married his dream girl, had two children and traveled the world on expensive vacations.
Over the span of Karpman's impressive 20-year career as a trader, he climbed the company ladder, reaching a salary of $750,000 a year.
Karpman was so confident in his good fortune and the strong economy that he left his job in 2005 to start his own hedge fund. To pay for the new business and their standard of living, Karpman quickly burned through $500,000 in savings and, like so many Americans, took a line of credit against his house.
After a lengthy and fruitless job search, the Karpmans were shocked to find themselves in financial dire straits, with zero savings, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and their home in foreclosure.
Desperate for quick cash, Karpman tried to find a job bartending but came up empty. Finally, he drove his Mercedes to Mike's Pizza & Deli Station in Clearwater and applied for a job. Mike Dodaro, the owner of the pizza shop, said he was shocked when he read his application but he offered him the job despite some reluctance to hire an over-qualified candidate.
Karpman's salary plummeted from six figures to $7.29 an hour -- plus tips -- but it's money that he's grateful to earn.
The Karpmans are now on food stamps and a tight budget.
As Karpman counts every penny he earns, he still hopes he can come back from the financial brink and reclaim a lifestyle he, like so many Americans, never imagined he could lose.
"I need a couple of wins," he said, "and I think that, hopefully, it'll mushroom up like it caved in."
And they still don't fuckin' get it! They think there will be another bubble to bail them out.
Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover's fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
For the first 45 years of Ken Karpman's life, everything was close to perfect.
He graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree and M.B.A., then got a high-paying job as an institutional equity sales trader. He married his dream girl, had two children and traveled the world on expensive vacations.
Over the span of Karpman's impressive 20-year career as a trader, he climbed the company ladder, reaching a salary of $750,000 a year.
Karpman was so confident in his good fortune and the strong economy that he left his job in 2005 to start his own hedge fund. To pay for the new business and their standard of living, Karpman quickly burned through $500,000 in savings and, like so many Americans, took a line of credit against his house.
After a lengthy and fruitless job search, the Karpmans were shocked to find themselves in financial dire straits, with zero savings, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and their home in foreclosure.
Desperate for quick cash, Karpman tried to find a job bartending but came up empty. Finally, he drove his Mercedes to Mike's Pizza & Deli Station in Clearwater and applied for a job. Mike Dodaro, the owner of the pizza shop, said he was shocked when he read his application but he offered him the job despite some reluctance to hire an over-qualified candidate.
Karpman's salary plummeted from six figures to $7.29 an hour -- plus tips -- but it's money that he's grateful to earn.
The Karpmans are now on food stamps and a tight budget.
As Karpman counts every penny he earns, he still hopes he can come back from the financial brink and reclaim a lifestyle he, like so many Americans, never imagined he could lose.
"I need a couple of wins," he said, "and I think that, hopefully, it'll mushroom up like it caved in."
And they still don't fuckin' get it! They think there will be another bubble to bail them out.
Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover's fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
The Ponzimonium Strikes Back!
Reuters reports: U.S. regulator probing "rampant Ponzimonium".
Hundreds of people in the United States are under investigation for financial scams, many involving Ponzi schemes, a U.S. regulator said, calling the phenomenon "rampant Ponzimonium."
While none are as mammoth as disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $65 billion fraud, multimillion-dollar "mini Madoffs" are proliferating from New York to Hawaii, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.
So far this year, the agency has uncovered 19 Ponzi schemes, which depend on an influx of new capital instead of investment profits to pay existing investors.
That compares with just 13 for all of 2008.
Chilton called the problem "rampant Ponzimonium" and "Ponzipalooza" -- a play on the word "Lollapalooza," an American music festival featuring a long list of acts.
You didn't exactly expect the greatest Credit Orgy in World History to not end like this, did you?
Every bubble ends with the revelation of a massive number of frauds. It's how the game works.
Hundreds of people in the United States are under investigation for financial scams, many involving Ponzi schemes, a U.S. regulator said, calling the phenomenon "rampant Ponzimonium."
While none are as mammoth as disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $65 billion fraud, multimillion-dollar "mini Madoffs" are proliferating from New York to Hawaii, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.
So far this year, the agency has uncovered 19 Ponzi schemes, which depend on an influx of new capital instead of investment profits to pay existing investors.
That compares with just 13 for all of 2008.
Chilton called the problem "rampant Ponzimonium" and "Ponzipalooza" -- a play on the word "Lollapalooza," an American music festival featuring a long list of acts.
You didn't exactly expect the greatest Credit Orgy in World History to not end like this, did you?
Every bubble ends with the revelation of a massive number of frauds. It's how the game works.
California Failing!
From CBS Marketwatch: Lawmaker suggests San Quentin sale.
A California state senator is calling for San Quentin State Prison to be closed and the land auctioned to private developers.
State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, said the 158-year-old prison was built on what was once a remote peninsula on San Francisco Bay but the property is now surrounded by some of the most prized real estate in the region.
Denham, who has previously introduced legislation to sell the prison without success, estimated the property could sell for as much as $2 billion.
Now, we could go all nucular on the Senator's ass with fancy analysis and witty rhetoric but let's just stick to the basic numbers.
San Quentin is 432 acres.
Price = $2B/432 = $4.6M
That's what the developer would have to pay. So the houses would have to be much higher. The land is nice but not that nice. Plus, where are the incomes to support that?
And never mind all the cleanup costs, moving the inmates, building a new facility, etc., etc., etc.
See, senator, one quick long division shows the smoke you're blowing up everyone's ass.
Long division, the marvel of financial wizardry!
A California state senator is calling for San Quentin State Prison to be closed and the land auctioned to private developers.
State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, said the 158-year-old prison was built on what was once a remote peninsula on San Francisco Bay but the property is now surrounded by some of the most prized real estate in the region.
Denham, who has previously introduced legislation to sell the prison without success, estimated the property could sell for as much as $2 billion.
Now, we could go all nucular on the Senator's ass with fancy analysis and witty rhetoric but let's just stick to the basic numbers.
San Quentin is 432 acres.
Price = $2B/432 = $4.6M
That's what the developer would have to pay. So the houses would have to be much higher. The land is nice but not that nice. Plus, where are the incomes to support that?
And never mind all the cleanup costs, moving the inmates, building a new facility, etc., etc., etc.
See, senator, one quick long division shows the smoke you're blowing up everyone's ass.
Long division, the marvel of financial wizardry!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Jingle, Jingle, it's Jingle Mail!
The Detroit News reports: Detroit councilman Kenyatta, candidate for mayor, defaults on mortgage.
Kwame Kenyatta, a city councilman and newly announced mayoral candidate, and his wife have handed the bank the keys to their North Rosedale Park house and walked away from the mortgage.
The councilman said the couple moved out in December and decided to default on their mortgage after unsuccessfully seeking a solution with a mortgage company. He said they considered selling the house at a loss and turning over the deed to the mortgage company in exchange for forgiving their debt. Kenyatta said the house goes up for a foreclosure sale in April.
Kenyatta and his wife walked away from a monthly tax, insurance and mortgage payment of $2,600, one year before the interest would jump to 11.625 percent from 6.625 percent and the payment would hit $3,600. Kenyatta said that even though his monthly payment has remained the same for years, he felt it made no sense to remain in a house whose value had plummeted to $100,000.
That whooshing sound, that's deflation!
Kwame Kenyatta, a city councilman and newly announced mayoral candidate, and his wife have handed the bank the keys to their North Rosedale Park house and walked away from the mortgage.
The councilman said the couple moved out in December and decided to default on their mortgage after unsuccessfully seeking a solution with a mortgage company. He said they considered selling the house at a loss and turning over the deed to the mortgage company in exchange for forgiving their debt. Kenyatta said the house goes up for a foreclosure sale in April.
Kenyatta and his wife walked away from a monthly tax, insurance and mortgage payment of $2,600, one year before the interest would jump to 11.625 percent from 6.625 percent and the payment would hit $3,600. Kenyatta said that even though his monthly payment has remained the same for years, he felt it made no sense to remain in a house whose value had plummeted to $100,000.
That whooshing sound, that's deflation!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
God Bless America!
US News & World Report reports: Half of Americans Are Two Paychecks Away from Hardship.
Without a steady paycheck, 50% of Americans say they could not meet their financial obligations for more than a month — and, of that, a disturbing 28% couldn’t support themselves for more than two weeks of unemployment.
(Source: US News & World Report.)
Without a steady paycheck, 50% of Americans say they could not meet their financial obligations for more than a month — and, of that, a disturbing 28% couldn’t support themselves for more than two weeks of unemployment.
(Source: US News & World Report.)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Slumdog Half-Millionaire
From CNN: Millions are no longer millionaires.
The financial crisis has weighed heavily on American households, and millionaires are no exception, according to a report released Wednesday.
The number of American households with a net worth of $1 million or more, excluding the value of their primary residence, fell 27% to 6.7 million in 2008 from an all-time high of 9.2 million the year before, according to a report from market research firm Spectrem Group.
Affluent households, defined as those with a net worth of $500,000 or more, declined 28% to 11.3 million from 15.7 million.
Even the very rich have not been immune. Households worth $5 million or more, excluding primary residence, fell 28% to 840,000 last year from 1.16 million households in 2007.
"The culprit is not just the stock market, which we all know has dropped precipitously, but broad declines in the asset classes available to the nation's wealthiest investors," Walper said.
Er, the culprit is loose credit which inflated ALL asset classes, dumbass!
The financial crisis has weighed heavily on American households, and millionaires are no exception, according to a report released Wednesday.
The number of American households with a net worth of $1 million or more, excluding the value of their primary residence, fell 27% to 6.7 million in 2008 from an all-time high of 9.2 million the year before, according to a report from market research firm Spectrem Group.
Affluent households, defined as those with a net worth of $500,000 or more, declined 28% to 11.3 million from 15.7 million.
Even the very rich have not been immune. Households worth $5 million or more, excluding primary residence, fell 28% to 840,000 last year from 1.16 million households in 2007.
"The culprit is not just the stock market, which we all know has dropped precipitously, but broad declines in the asset classes available to the nation's wealthiest investors," Walper said.
Er, the culprit is loose credit which inflated ALL asset classes, dumbass!
Bert and Ernie File for Unemployment
Bloomberg reports: ‘Sesame Street’ Producer to Reduce Workforce by 20%.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces “Sesame Street,” is cutting 20 percent of its workforce because of the recession.
“After careful review, we have concluded that we will have to operate with fewer resources in order to achieve our strategic priorities,” New York-based Sesame Workshop said today in an e-mailed statement. The company said it eliminated 67 of 355 staff positions.
“Sesame Street,” featuring characters such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, has been on the air since 1969 and is the most widely viewed children’s TV show in the world, according to the producers. Three months ago, Sesame Workshop Chief Executive Officer Gary Knell told Bloomberg Radio that while the company was “able to withstand” recessions, it was not “immune.”
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces “Sesame Street,” is cutting 20 percent of its workforce because of the recession.
“After careful review, we have concluded that we will have to operate with fewer resources in order to achieve our strategic priorities,” New York-based Sesame Workshop said today in an e-mailed statement. The company said it eliminated 67 of 355 staff positions.
“Sesame Street,” featuring characters such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, has been on the air since 1969 and is the most widely viewed children’s TV show in the world, according to the producers. Three months ago, Sesame Workshop Chief Executive Officer Gary Knell told Bloomberg Radio that while the company was “able to withstand” recessions, it was not “immune.”
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Boom Boom, Bust Bust!
Alternet.org reports: Is the Future Going Down the Drain? Baby Boomers Going Bust.
Millions of baby boomers born into the dawn of the most spectacular economic expansion in history are being forced to re-imagine their retirement futures. Few news outlets have failed to seize upon the low-hanging pun: the boomers have gone bust.
Among the adjustments forced by the new circumstances, perhaps the cruelest twist for many boomers is the need to join younger generations in the roommate queue. The housing crash has forced record numbers of late-middle age homeowners to take in boarders or risk becoming boarders themselves. From California to Vermont, home-share organizations founded to assist the elderly are scrambling to meet the demands of newly bust boomers.
The extent to which boomer wealth was based on home values is highlighted by a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, entitled "The Wealth of the Baby Boom Cohorts After the Collapse of the Housing Bubble." The report details how the collapse has left the majority of those around retirement-age almost completely reliant on entitlements. The net worth of median households in the 45 to 54 age bracket has dropped by more than 45 percent since 2004, to just over $80,000. Households headed by those aged 55 to 64, meanwhile, have lost 38 percent of net wealth.
“The collapse of the housing bubble has already destroyed almost $6 trillion dollars in housing wealth for homeowners," says report co-author Dean Baker, who testified last month before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. “This is compounded by the recent collapse of the stock market. The result is that many baby boomers will only have entitlements to rely on in their retirement.”
Make that entitlements, roommates, and each other.
As more and more boomers scale down their retirement plans and consider alternative living arrangements, it's worth asking: Is shared housing such a bad thing for aging boomers? Does a return to the Communal idea, borne of economic necessity, also have emotional, social, and environmental benefits? Why wait for the retirement home or hospice to live with other people? With the nation full of worthless, ridiculously large, and mostly empty houses, why not fill them with the newly penurious and like-minded boomers in need of housing?
Better yet: why not abandon these suburban houses altogether, and find more appropriate housing arrangements closer to urban cores, or build tightly knit communities on cheap rural land?
Let me first remind you about: Blinding Flash of the Obvious.
Every one of the seven points is coming true for the Boomers. They are pretty much screwed.
Millions of baby boomers born into the dawn of the most spectacular economic expansion in history are being forced to re-imagine their retirement futures. Few news outlets have failed to seize upon the low-hanging pun: the boomers have gone bust.
Among the adjustments forced by the new circumstances, perhaps the cruelest twist for many boomers is the need to join younger generations in the roommate queue. The housing crash has forced record numbers of late-middle age homeowners to take in boarders or risk becoming boarders themselves. From California to Vermont, home-share organizations founded to assist the elderly are scrambling to meet the demands of newly bust boomers.
The extent to which boomer wealth was based on home values is highlighted by a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, entitled "The Wealth of the Baby Boom Cohorts After the Collapse of the Housing Bubble." The report details how the collapse has left the majority of those around retirement-age almost completely reliant on entitlements. The net worth of median households in the 45 to 54 age bracket has dropped by more than 45 percent since 2004, to just over $80,000. Households headed by those aged 55 to 64, meanwhile, have lost 38 percent of net wealth.
“The collapse of the housing bubble has already destroyed almost $6 trillion dollars in housing wealth for homeowners," says report co-author Dean Baker, who testified last month before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. “This is compounded by the recent collapse of the stock market. The result is that many baby boomers will only have entitlements to rely on in their retirement.”
Make that entitlements, roommates, and each other.
As more and more boomers scale down their retirement plans and consider alternative living arrangements, it's worth asking: Is shared housing such a bad thing for aging boomers? Does a return to the Communal idea, borne of economic necessity, also have emotional, social, and environmental benefits? Why wait for the retirement home or hospice to live with other people? With the nation full of worthless, ridiculously large, and mostly empty houses, why not fill them with the newly penurious and like-minded boomers in need of housing?
Better yet: why not abandon these suburban houses altogether, and find more appropriate housing arrangements closer to urban cores, or build tightly knit communities on cheap rural land?
Let me first remind you about: Blinding Flash of the Obvious.
Every one of the seven points is coming true for the Boomers. They are pretty much screwed.
In Which Turbo-Tax Timmay Tries Learning Econ 101
The New York Post reports: FOR SALE SIGN AT GEITHNER'S.
He's been tapped to lead the country through a massive financial crisis, but Timothy Geithner will be lucky to break even on the sale of his own New York house.
The newly minted treasury secretary and his wife, Carole, have put their five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom West chester home on the market for $1.635 million - just a tad north of the $1.602 million they paid for it in 2004.
The Geithners want to unload the stately Larchmont Tudor and move to Washington.
The time to sell is when everyone wants to buy not after the fact.
Oh, and you lower the price until it sells.
Louche-y McDouche is gonna learn some basic lessons in finance.
He's been tapped to lead the country through a massive financial crisis, but Timothy Geithner will be lucky to break even on the sale of his own New York house.
The newly minted treasury secretary and his wife, Carole, have put their five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom West chester home on the market for $1.635 million - just a tad north of the $1.602 million they paid for it in 2004.
The Geithners want to unload the stately Larchmont Tudor and move to Washington.
The time to sell is when everyone wants to buy not after the fact.
Oh, and you lower the price until it sells.
Louche-y McDouche is gonna learn some basic lessons in finance.
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