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The lotto mindset does not originate from the belief that one cannot fall below a certain point, but rather that one cannot rise naturally above a certain point.
Any genuine attempt to fairly distribute wealth will include measures to tax the wealth directly, NOT income. Progressive taxation is an attack on becoming rich. Entrepreneurial people in the Silicon Valley, take note!
This is the greatest financial myth of all time.
Progressive taxation supports people *becoming* rich. Otherwise the natural trend is for wealth to become more and more concentrated within the upper echelon of society.
Damn. I was hoping the $100 downpayment thing was some kind of bad dream. But Malcolm is right, here's a link to prove it: http://100dollarhudhomes.com/programinfo.htm
wtf does the government think it's doing by putting yet more underqualified people into fresh foreclosures? All this does is encourage NINJAs to get more creative, because once again you don't have to use a downpayment. The full price clause just artificially props up valuations, and if you're only putting down $100, then why not sign up for the full amount? It's not like the FHA is stringent anyway, thanks to ACORN and others.
Grh. Our tax dollars at work, folks... our tax dollars at work.
For now we will not have a T auction failure. As a perceived safe haven, US desire to buy alone s sufficient.
How long can we do this? As a $14T economy going to a $13T economy looking to deficit finance $1t per year for the next 2+ years. . .
I would say we have 2 years of only a modest rise in the cost of govt borrowing. Then a few years of owwie borrrowing. Then, if things have not improved, we are living in the world of Schiff. Failed auctions and no end of problems.
For now it is kinda an upside down world if you think aout it. We USED to buy stocks and bonds in companies. Now we buy T who then spend the money on, well, stocks and bonds in companies.
Kewp, it never ceases to amaze me the number of people in this country who believe that the reason they are not rich is that the *government* is keeping them down.
Where is it they get these ideas, is it in the milk in kindergarten or something?
justme, maybe it's the fact that I give the government $60k a year, and get barely anything in return.
Do you know how much that $60k means to me and my quality of life?
justme, maybe it’s the fact that I give the government $60k a year, and get barely anything in return.
Well, hopefully President Obama will spent some of that money upgrading our infrastructure vs. waging endless war and bailing out hedge funds.
For now we will not have a T auction failure. As a perceived safe haven, US desire to buy alone s sufficient.
Last time I heard, there were numerous hedge funds from Cayman Islands that could buy treasuries for ever.
Well, hopefully President Obama will spent some of that money upgrading our infrastructure vs. waging endless war and bailing out hedge funds.
LOL!
Our infrastructure is just fine... just need some privatization.
It is quite likely that Obama will have to fight the Iran war.
Back to Topic: I don't think US wants to get involved in any kind of financial system till we get out of this mess. Getting involved will expose more issues over here.
Well, hopefully President Obama will spent some of that money upgrading our infrastructure vs. waging endless war and bailing out hedge funds.
Oh? Let's see if he really ends this war, and remember he voted FOR the bailout.
The 4 "third party" candidates (Libertarian, Constitution, Greens, and Independent) were the ones who ran on platforms of end the war and stop any Wall Street bailouts.
Brand, of course you are right in what you are saying. It is an attempt to get these houses off the books and to keep the property values up. If someone qualifies for the loan under normal conditions (real income with no more than a 35% payment) it is a good idea and may be a great way for some readers here to pick up a house that is easy to get in to.
Remember, it IS your tax dollars that are paying for the original defaulted loan, so the government is actually being smart trying to get top dollar for the houses. Now, like anything else, only buy one if the fundamentals make sense. It must be working though because when I put in my area, there are only a few homes available. That tells me they are actually selling. This program may account for that unexpected jump in sales activity that NAR recently reported.
This is hilarious...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081110/home_value_denial.html
I love the realtor's response... that people are in denial, that they think their home is special, they think housing only goes up. Except, oh yeah, that was the exact argument the realtor used to talk the person into buying it.
And now, the realtors are fucked because they can't break people off the beliefs that THEY instilled in them. Ahhh, justice.
And now, the realtors are fucked because they can’t break people off the beliefs that THEY instilled in them. Ahhh, justice.
You guys watched this, right? (From Patrick's links)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNmcf4Y3lGM
Even Hitler is losing his shirt! LOL.
Hmmm... I thought this was interesting. Someone on socketsite posted that their minimum payment on their Alt-A loan is now more than the interest only payment due to the low rates (thank you Ben). While the minimum payment is still less than a 30 year amortization schedule, it does mean that payment shocks due to negative amortization caps (usually 110-115%) are less likely to happen. That said ARMageddon is delayed, not forgotten...
As usual, PJ O'Rourke cuts to the chase and kicks us in the ... whatever.
www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/791jsebl.asp
What will destroy our country and us is not the financial crisis but the fact that liberals think the free market is some kind of sect or cult, which conservatives have asked Americans to take on faith. That's not what the free market is. The free market is just a measurement, a device to tell us what people are willing to pay for any given thing at any given moment. The free market is a bathroom scale. You may hate what you see when you step on the scale. "Jeeze, 230 pounds!" But you can't pass a law making yourself weigh 185. Liberals think you can. And voters--all the voters, right up to the tippy-top corner office of Goldman Sachs--think so too.
Tom McClintock was against the bailout and he is currently leading Charlie Brown on a razor-thin margin in the 4th District race. Let's all pray for his victory.
Now that housing has crashed, can I say that at work productivity will improve? I am saying this since for last eight years I have seen people neglecting work heavily to invest in housing (blogging, chatting etc).
The problem is not the housing bubble but the reaction to it's demise. In so called "free markets" it happens. Also the USA is not a free market capitalist system, and maybe never was.
Another point is that one of the only things the US has had and the reason it has been strong is its consumers. Obama needs to create jobs to soften the downturn. But once its over start slowly taking them away....
How long do you think the market price discovery of all these assets can be put off? The shit that the gubermint is doing is just making the process more painful and prolonging the suffering.
Dude, is AIG trying to start a riot?
They're like a fucking druggy that just can't stop. I'm almost ready to fly down there and clock the CEO in the face.
Is this the future of Web 2.0?
That is Web 3.0, the new version coming next year.
The shit that the gubermint is doing is just making the process more painful and prolonging the suffering.
On the bright side, the downtrend will be more tradable.
Yen seems to be advancing steadily again. De-leveraging continues.
Perhaps the post-election rally is just a fizzle?
Not investment advice.
Dude, is AIG trying to start a riot?
At least we won't have discussions about how tax payers will be making money from bailouts from now on.
Welp, we all knew it was coming. And we all knew how idiotic the setup would be.
*renting saver with hand out*
"Where is mine?"
Seriously, how about just offering anyone with a heartbeat and a will to take on a mortgage for an over-priced house a loan at those terms? Oh wait... they already did that. Blow another bubble why don't you?
Not that the new plan will work anyways... it will just delay the inevitable until housing prices in the most bubbly areas (hello there Bay Area) become affordable. How much farther do some places have to go?
Besides you need to be 3 months behind on your payments to qualify for this... how many people that are up to date on payments (but with little or negative equity) will quickly fall behind on payments to meet the guildelines? Good job... encourage people to stop paying their mortgage. That ought to work.
So what are they going to do about the massive unemployment problem about that is quickly becoming disastrous?
From FuzzyMath's link:
Indeed, Tuesday's announcement comes too late for Troy Courtney, a 44-year-old San Francisco police officer.
He moved out of his home in Mill Valley, Calif., at the start of this month -- taking his children, three dogs and one cat with him -- after failing at several to attempts to get a loan modification or a short sale -- where the lender agrees to receive less than the loan is worth.
Courtney worked overtime and tapped into his retirement account to try to catch up with two loans on his home. But in the end he couldn't convince Countrywide Financial, which managed the loan for Wells Fargo, to modify the loan.
"I feel like I missed the boat," he said of the new efforts to help more homeowners. "I'm just mad at the whole system."
I'm not sure why people want to put themselves out there like this. We don't know Troy and Lisa Courtney's extenuating circumstance are but here's what the public record says:
5/14/99: Bought property for $320,500 ($256,400 First, $64,100 Second mortagage)
3/16/05: Refinanced $630,000 Variable mortgage
Various judgements from different collections agencies on:
11/1/2003, 8/3/2004 (released after refi on 3/16/05)
6/11/2004 (released 8/17/2004)
I noticed on Craigslist that some nice 3/2 units are renting in Mill Valley for around $2500. I'm guessing that is significantly less than what their mortgage payment was.
3/16/05: Refinanced $630,000 Variable mortgage
And the article says the Courtney's were paying on TWO mortgages. So apparently the $630k was not a combined re-fi of the earlier first and second, or they took out another loan after the re-fi.
"Extenuating circumstance" or not, your "rest of the story" kinda kills the pity parade.
Can't a cop lose his job due to excessive debt, judgements, and related irresponsibility?
From Fuzzy's link:
More than 4 million American homeowners, or 9 percent of borrowers with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of June, according to the most recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
That means that 91% of homeowners with a mortgage were caught up and still paying on time. Add to that the fact that 25% or so of total American homes have no mortgage at all.
And the article says the Courtney’s were paying on TWO mortgages.
There was a Trustee's Deed upon Sale on 2/13/2008 for $69,292, which may have been the second (NOD filed on 10/16/2007). I'm piecing this together from http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/AR/RiiMs/index.asp, propertyshark(dot)com, and a whitepages lookup.
News from Fortress East Bay. Still time to jettison the escaped pod...
Berkeley, Calif., known sometimes as a hippie haven, is becoming a hotbed for home sales.
Prices in the Bay Area suburb are up 9% this year, with homes selling for a median price of $790,986. Properties are sitting on the market for 73 days on average, the lowest of any area with positive price trends within the confines of the country's 75 largest Census-defined metro areas. Only 37% of sellers have been forced to reduce their prices, one of the lowest rates in the country.
Can’t a cop lose his job due to excessive debt, judgements, and related irresponsibility?
I know a bankruptcy or being behind on child support payments prevents you from being admitted to the State Bar of Calif. But it's more difficult if you already are a member and then do either of these things.
Either would get your security clearance stripped and therefore fired from a defense contractor job.
That means that 91% of homeowners with a mortgage were caught up and still paying on time. Add to that the fact that 25% or so of total American homes have no mortgage at all.
Exactly. Add the renter/savers with good credit to that list while you are at it.
Can someone explain to me why the rest of us are getting hit with a multi-trillion dollar tax bill to bail out speculators? Whom are probably tax cheats as well as mortgage fraudsters?
"Can someone explain to me why the rest of us are getting hit with a multi-trillion dollar tax bill to bail out speculators"
Don't think for a second that it's genuinely for homeowners
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Saw this on my rss feed from Yahoo/Reuters just now:
Glimpse into a new financial system
The rest of the article does not actually say what this "new financial system" is - just a vague statement about fiscal stimulus from the G20. Does not quite match the more ambitious tone of the title. Is this a case where the original article was whitewashed to remove the details, but they forgot to change the title?
In any case, what will the new financial system look like? I have heard all the rumors, and have no idea what to expect when the crooks get together behind closed doors.
SP