patrick.net

indigenous says

You can just call me Indigenous

I always think of the "indigenous types" that Tony Soprano complains about to his daughter Meadow that always seem to have money for gambling and crack.

corntrollio says

I always think of the "indigenous types" that Tony Soprano complains about to his daughter Meadow that always seem to have money for gambling and crack.

Why do I give a fuck, what you always think of?

One addendum when I think of corntrollio, I think of someone taking it in the ass as in deliverance.

thomaswong.1986 says

extensive hoses making it impossible to change a spark plug...

Usually it's not the hoses that are the problem so much as other things. Certain engine bays are too small to change the back sparkplugs on a front-wheel drive V6.

elliemae says

I have one of the recalled cars (cobalt)

Ouch, yeah, the Cobalt wasn't really one of the good ones. The new Cruze is much better, as is the Sonic.

elliemae says

They replaced it, but they didn't replace everything they were supposed to and it went out again. The first time that I brought it in they held it overnight... but if you figure out all 5x they held my car hostage almost a month.

I assume you took it to the dealer while it was still under warranty for this, but dealer technicians are basically glorified parts-change monkeys. They don't really know how to analyze problems and just keep changing parts until the problem goes away. There are some master techs at dealerships that are good at analyzing problems, but they're not usually the ones working on your cars and that's why you get these repeated visits. This has nothing to do with manufacturing and everything to do with the service department which is run by your dealer.

elliemae says

Supposedly they're trying for "transparency," but I think all these recalls and admissions of crappy designs are only because they've been caught (or are about to be).

As you mentioned, some of these problems already had TSBs, so they already caught the problem and decided to pay for a fix for everyone instead of only those who squawk.

Ask Toyota about their recalls for sludged engines. Huh? What recall?

Strategist says

In China, they prefer Buicks and Cadillacs MADE IN USA.

Sorry for the shitty Wikipedia link, but a lot of GM cars sold in China are made in China:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_GM

They have some models based on Opels, Holdens, and Daewoos that aren't sold here, so no, not really made in the USA.

indigenous says

One addendum when I think of corntrollio, I think of someone taking it in the ass as in deliverance.

Yes, I encourage people to have anal sex -- as I mentioned in another thread, it's a good form of birth control for people who are too stupid in 2014 to figure out other methods.

Ah messing up well-crafted sarcasm!

But to respond, anyway, I don't believe in endings - only in punctuated equilibrium and bursting thresholds.

Here are a couple of examples i just happened to be examining today:

Insurance companies and pension funds are too big to fail. After another threshold breaks, those will be the groups who, rather suddenly, will be screaming for the Fed to bail them out. I don't know whether by "bailing" we'll be helping them get water out of their sinking yacht, or pushing them out of an airplane, but I prefer the latter.

And another, slightly larger concern:

Spain Unemployment Rate: 25.6 %
Spain Under 24 y.o. Unemployment Rate: 54.3%

The number of emigrants (under 24) relocating to Germany from Spain increased 53% from 2012 to 2013, and 68% from 2013 to 2014.

PLUS:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/may/28/unemployment-rising-germany-france

PLUS:

Deutsche Bank's total derivatives exposure as of May 1, 2014:

55.2 Trillion Euros

Which is backed by only:

521 Billion Euros in assets.

Yep. that's right. Germany alone has more money at risk than there ever has been entirely on earth, and has it leveraged at 100-to-1.

And FINALLY:

Germany asks that 674 tons of their gold be returned from the safe-keeping of the Federal Reserve, but return with only 5 tons four months later.

Now, THAT is a threshold. It will be crossed. It will be broken. The current equilibrium WILL collapse and we'll have a punctuated event. It could be a bank holiday (God help us) or just a pleasant German cook-out. But if Germany can't hold the EU aloft, then there is only the US Federal Reserve (which, we mustn't forget, has shitloads of gold in its vaults).

The same kind of threshold is holding aloft the prices of real estate in the Bay Area. Inflated Stocks and Equities keep money flowing back to the same neighborhoods, but it can't be sustained - that is, as long as you want to keep a 99 cent menu going at McDonald's.

Texas, much like Germany, will not be able to save everyone who jumps ship. Houstonians won't pay 4 bucks for a cheese burger just so San Fran can keep selling shacks for a half million a piece. They'll pay for the rate of inflation only.

(oh and what happens when we find out that the Fed (*gasp*) doesn't actually have 674 tons of German gold, but has in reality been selling each ounce of it "physically" to 100 different countries? Why the price of gold drops of course. YessireeeBOB, there ain't no diff-ernts twixt paper gold and REAL gold. Nuh, uh." Those two are the same thing...and the price of paper will never separate from physical. No way!")

A major shift is happening in Fed thinking
They were on record as doing QE to drive home prices higher. Now they seem to be giving up on housing but holding onto the notion than the economy will improve even without housing!
http://patrick.net/?p=1243329

smaulgld says

A major shift is happening in Fed thinking

They were on record as doing QE to drive home prices higher. Now they seem to be giving up on housing but holding onto the notion than the economy will improve even without housing!

http://patrick.net/?p=1243329

If you guys were the Federal Reserve, how would you solve our crisis?

Strategist says

If you guys were the Federal Reserve, how would you solve our crisis?

If I were objective and not beholden to those that placed me in my position I would disband the Fed

smaulgld says

A major shift is happening in Fed thinking

They were on record as doing QE to drive home prices higher. Now they seem to be giving up on housing but holding onto the notion than the economy will improve even without housing!

http://patrick.net/?p=1243329

It's all about metrics

At first the monetary magicians said it was all about unemployment, next it was all about housing and now the next metric to be pulled out of her hat is the economy

But Yellen's interest rate wand looks to be out of magic. The government had a pipe dream of white picket fences for everyone. But Americans can't refinance their way to wealth. Especially in the Greater Depression.

http://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/yellens-wand-is-running-low-on-magic

No more DUI's

Bubbabear says

No more DUI's

Now we can get the cops off the street and out fighting real crime. What will the Police Industrial Complex do if they can't fund themselves with punitive speeding tickets and false-pretense stops to sniff for drugs and arrest warrants??

How will insurance companies determine fault for cars that don't have drivers? Don't tell me they're just going to stop selling auto insurance. . . .

I would say the ham hock arms of a massive hirsute lesbian, but Kim Jung-un is the only one in North Korea who has enough food to get fat.

The weedy, emaciated arms of a petite, starving North Korean hirsute lesbian just doesn't have the same ring to it.

elliemae says

Re: the CSI Biebs dying video - I'm impressed at how many shots it took for him to die. He's much tougher than I thought

It was those kevlar tattoos.

Self driving car jihad!

Lululululululululululu

A missionary using a bag of rice as bait and Bill O'Reilly in the hiding in the bushes with his elephant gun.

Sucks.
Strict underwriting guidelines is the culprit. Denying loans to those who can pay should be a crime.

I'm on the wait list for a car that runs on fuel cells. I expect delivery in the year 3000. Until then I have devised an engine that runs completely on bull shit. Until that is installed. I'll try to get Arnold Schwarzenegger to push my car around for me.

CANNIBAL ANARCHY mmmm

What will we do when a car is also a disposable weapon, able to be used anonymously to cause vehicular assault and mayhem? Controlled through the Internet by either human or AI, the car could be guided to commit crimes, then crashed and burned to destroy evidence. What a frightening world that would be! Mad Max without Max!

Why are there not tons of new mortgages originating with these ultra low rates?

There are 2 bad things that could come out of tapering:
- rates go up, or ...
- the economy stops growing, which would keep rates the same or down.

Better hope that rates going down is just a side effect of the gov cutting its deficit (the fed buying a larger percent of the new bonds) and stocks being relatively expensive.

Heraclitusstudent says

There are 2 bad things that could come out of tapering:

- rates go up, or ...

- the economy stops growing, which would keep rates the same or down.

Better hope that rates going down is just a side effect of the gov cutting its deficit (the fed buying a larger percent of the new bonds) and stocks being relatively expensive.

The rates HAVE to eventually go up. We have old people earning subterranean rates on their money and getting cold cocked at the gas station and grocery store...it can't continue and it won't.

I don't get why anyone thought rates would go up. I didn't see any reason to reverse the 30 year trend of lowering rates.

Might be time to swap my 30yr @ 3.5 into a 15 year. What's the cheapest 15 yr re-fi rate out there currently?

rootvg says

We have old people earning subterranean rates on their money and getting cold cocked at the gas station and grocery store...it can't continue and it won't.

Old people just need to sell their houses to millennial and stop whining.

Heraclitusstudent says

rootvg says

We have old people earning subterranean rates on their money and getting cold cocked at the gas station and grocery store...it can't continue and it won't.

Old people just need to sell their houses to millennial and stop whining.

The Millenials can't buy them. Yeah, sure...if they're in the Bay Area, Stanford grads and working for Google or Facebook they can. If they're in Dallas, Houston or Austin and making decent cash, yes. If they don't fit into either one of those categories or maybe their degrees/skills weren't in demand? They're screwed.

My wife and I have been extra careful and extra lucky. It happens.

"There comes a time when good old fashioned physical strength and nerve becomes necessary"

"After a year+ in the gym, I impressed myself so much by maxing at 400 on the leg press, I decided to log on patnet and tell the world about it"

Um,,,,you better start hulking the fuck up bro. Some of us can leg press twice that lol

You're right, we would have to use the arms of one of the spare Immense Hirsute Lesbians.

In Santa Cruz, just throw a pebble in any particular direction and you'll hit one.

errc says

"There comes a time when good old fashioned physical strength and nerve becomes necessary"

"After a year+ in the gym, I impressed myself so much by maxing at 400 on the leg press, I decided to log on patnet and tell the world about it"

Um,,,,you better start hulking the fuck up bro. Some of us can leg press twice that lol

Considering where I came from, that's a lot. I had never worked out before. The machine is maxed out.

rootvg says

The Millenials can't buy them.

Rates may be low, but housing prices are high.
If you are short on cash, sell.
If you wait for rates to be high, you will likely just pay it in equity.

Why do you hate midgets?

rootvg says

When it becomes legal to walk in the Castro with a forty five on my hip, we'll KNOW something big is happening.

Is it just me or does that sound a bit...I don't know...GAY?

Remember whoever leaves the planet with the most material things has won the game.....................

Interesting how many of the succesful people (as measured by weatlh) here come across as so bitter and unhappy.

Analyzer says

Interesting how many of the succesful people (as measured by weatlh) here come across as so bitter and unhappy.

There was a survey done some years ago of Ivy League graduates twenty years after graduation and of all those schools, the most miserable were from Harvard. No question. Maybe it's because they were led to believe they could "change the world" (gee, that sounds familiar) and when they didn't, it was a serious let down. The current generation is setting itself up quite nicely for another go-round of that, given the current state of the economy and numerous predictions about Millenials not having the opportunities available to the Boomers or even Generation X. Savings rates for the Millenials are said to be much higher than those who came before them generally because they're scared shitless of the future and are preparing accordingly, if they can.

rootvg says

The machine is maxed out.

Come on, find a real gym.

rootvg says

The reason so many of us on the right are so angry with what's happened over the last five years is because the guy we got is/was obsessed with turning this country into something it was never intended to be. This is not Europe. This is not Indonesia or China. We are not politically correct. A melting pot, yes. A salad bowl, no. Obama and his people seem to be ready to sacrifice the nation in order to make a series of political points, the most vocal of which has been the healthcare bill. Did you know the ACA is the most unpopular piece of Federal legislation since Prohibition?

There is a segment of older white guys that are angry because the country is moving away from what it was, and they think it is a bad thing. They watch Fox news which keeps them in a state of perpetual anger.

Salad bowl vs melting pot? Really... what is the difference?
Politically correct? Really big deal!
ACA is unpopular? Rejoice, democrats are going to get kicked.
Yeah things change. Countries change. Empires fall. Populations change. Culture change.
Take a deep breath and get over it.

Sometimes this board can be a dream case study for psychology grad students.

I'm curious about your take on a few facts:

1. The largest buyers of stocks this year was via repurchasing on the S&P.
2. Corporate cash liquidity is at an all-time high, but Corporate Dept is also at an all-time high. In fact, debt exceeds cash 2-to-1

and then there are these...

Analyzer says

Interesting how many of the succesful people (as measured by weatlh) here come across as so bitter and unhappy.

Because they want to kill each other but can't satisfy the instinct via sublimation of debating - it ain't getting it done! In the time of the romans someone would have been clubbed to death and thrown off the cliff followed by some animal sacrifice to some god of fortune or rain or whatever.