OT: the first peak of the new layout goes to the great commenters! Thanks all for your earlier comments. I've fixed the css error and Firefox works now. So here is the new proposed layout (still a work in progress).
And, on topic, why is anyone surprised by the fraud?
I represent servicers. 8 or 9 out of every 10 loan that come across my desk are clear fraud. Many are coupled with identity theft, usually of some poor soldier who was probably overseas and never knew he owned, and lost, a house.
Its a conspiracy man. Holy smokes this is getting worse by the day. Could never imagined it would get this bad. Good thing it'll be short and shallow recession.
it is a fairly sharp diminution. However, it has to be because if it is not, you end up with more than 100% of collateral loss, which does not make any sense either.
As nonsensical as it sounds, I can believe that somehow, somewhere, a loan ends up losing over a hundred percent of collateral. I mean, this is America damn it! We don't let little things like that stand in our way.
Tim, from my view in the trenches (which is admittedly narrow, but still...), I'd say the downturn will be about as short as Dikembe Mutombo, and about as shallow as the Grand Canyon.
I noticed Wal Mart and CostCo are already rationing rice. Wheeeee!
Is there anyway to put the post name in the Haloscan comments? When I get home from work I open up all the new posts. It can get confusing on which set of comments I'm on.
Does anyone get the idea that Countrywide, Bear, Merrill, Lehman common stock has so much debt attached to it that it is basically worthless. They will be paying for losses with stock for years. who continues to hold these stocks? Pension funds?
Well, humph.
I think we are rapidly approaching the moment when Helocs die.
Just wait until credit cards start going blammo.
I am beginning to estimate that I will be safe to stop paying the heloc in about six months.
What are they going to do?
Threaten to repo the house? Yeah sure. If they were smart they would offer zero interest if you agree to an accelerated repayment plan.
Right now. To everybody that has a heloc that is underwater.
First one to do it will get their capital back fastest.
Of course, anything that makes sense will be the last thing the morons in the corner office propose.
The world has changed, and they still think they will get blood out of stones.
Allen M- I'm thinking of maxing my HELOC and putting it in something safe, like a CD. Then I want to go to the bank and offer to close it out if they cut me a deal on my first. Ruthless borrowing .
Do you mean at the individual not paying them back level ('cause I think we're there already - banks just not admitting) or at the level where they can't securitize NEW money coming in & have the securitization equivalent of a bowel obstruction (might be there too).
Judged independently the new format looks pretty good. I must say, though... every change is a shock to the system. I'm still missing the tree-lined road!
,Delta and Northwest, seeking to combine to create the world's largest airline, posted losses Wednesday totaling $10.5 billion for the first three months of the year due to exorbitant fuel prices and write-downs of their posted losses Wednesday totaling $10.5 billion for the first three months of the year due to exorbitant fuel prices and write-downs of their companies' value.
To restate my comment from the last Ambac thread, I'm thrilled that they're holding Bear's feet to the fire... now that the Fed has yelled ALL CLEAR to the securitizers, it's the only way we're ever going to get the lid pried off the most fraudulent deals and force some accountability back into the laps of the investment banks.
Clearly, the Fed is too scared of letting IBs "fail" to push them with a review of past regulatory failures. As much as lawyers often seem an un-necessary tax on commerce, in this case, boy do they seem necessary, even vital, to get to some of the truth of what happened here.
I guess the Trout in the milk is more noticeable when it has been dead for a month or two.And gosh those reps and warranties aren't just space filling boilerplate after all,surprise!
"I noticed Wal Mart and CostCo are already rationing rice. Wheeeee!"
I buy a 50lb bag of rice at Costco every few months because my family eat rice everyday.
Last week I noticed one guy with about 15 bags of rice on his pallet and a couple of others with 3 or 4. Two people asked if it was "good rice" when I was loading my single big. Nobody had ever taken much interest in the rice before.
People are so strange. The idea of hording rice in California seems pretty bizarre to me. Rice may get more expensive but it's not going to run out in America. People read about incredibly poor people in africa and asia who are unable to afford rice and suddenly they decide to zoom out in their Mercedes SUV to buy some sacks of rice.
We are entering uncharted territory with premium gas already over $4 a gallon and people stockpiling rice and flour. Looks like the seams of our society are starting to fray.
I'm not clear on how 82/100 walkaways necessarily means the loss of all their collateral. Don't they still have the assets? The houses are still worth something, are they not?
Kis
the house values are hard to pin down though because they are falling by the day. a lot of cases the loan is worth more than the house so you have near 100% losses on some.
Question on cc writeoffs: When cc companies finally writeoff an account, usually the balance has been greatly inflated by late fees and punitive rate increases. Are the cc companies allowed to take a deduction against earnings for the whole amount, including the fees? Could this be a reason why the fees are so huge (and getting bigger)?
Let's say we have 6 or 8 million foreclosures over the next couple of years. Meanwhile the credit crunch continues and the economy spirals into a deep recession.
So what do you think those foreclosed houses are worth to the bank? The value has already dropped 20% or 30% from the purchase price and will probably drop another 20% or 30% over the next couple of years.
How long will the bank have to carry these houses in a market where millions and millions of other houses are for sale? What will they pay in maintenance and repairs? How long will it be before banks start bundling foreclosed houses and selling them to property management companies at fire sale prices?
The onrushing tidal wave of foreclosures will bury most of america's banks, crater the real estate market and probably turn a deep recession into a true depression.
Even the most powerful of nations can only survive so much greed and stupidity.
Binko writes:
Let's say we have 6 or 8 million foreclosures over the next couple of years. Meanwhile the credit crunch continues and the economy spirals into a deep recession.
How deep can a recession go before it should be called a depression?
Somewhat OT & perhaps a dumb question but--isn't it a bit difficult to stockpile rice & flour unless you have lots of refrigerator and/or freezer space? If you eat alot of rice (not that many Americans do), like Binko's family does, I can see buying a 50 lb bag--but for many families--isn't their rice going to end up w/whatever kind of bugs I've seen show up in rice? Ditto for flour, i.e., they'll just end up tossing/wasting the rice/flour?
I understand you can kill the bug eggs in flour by putting it in a freezer for so long (12 hours?), perhaps that works for rice too?
I buy a 25lb bag of bread flour because I make my own bread, but I keep as much of the 25lbs in the refrigerator as I can fit (along with all the other stuff in there) refrigerator & keep thinking that this will be the year I buy a chest freezer so I can keep it in a freezer & buy more stuff in season at the Farmers market & freeze that too. Don't can as much as I used to.
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
Azurite, if you make your own bread on a regular basis you should look into buying a small grain mill and grinding your own flour from whole wheat. Fresh ground whole meal is amazingly nutritious and whole wheat stores very well. I have a german made grain mill called the "Family Grain Mill" and it is a wonderful thing. Standard white flour is nasty stuff. Most of the nutrition was lost when the bran and germ were milled off and once it is ground it starts to oxidize rapidly due to the huge surface area of finely ground flour.
Sorry to get so far off topic. But if the economy continues to tank most of us may end up having to learn a lot more about gardening and food storage than we ever expected.
I stay away for a few days to not look at this stuff and it just gets worse and worse, while meanwhile, we have the worst president in US history in denial and two retards, oh I mean three retards waiting in the wings to manipulate policies and add a few more nails in The American Experience.
This is the dark age, and I for one did not vote for that asshole!
I don't think people are storing rice and flour here in the U.S. I think what you are seeing is immigrants buying rice and flour to send to their relatives in other countries where there is a shortage of such items.
You know... us immigrants have to take care of the family back home.
Binko,
I work in the property management biz, and I know people are already offering banks purchase packages for blocks of REO. I don't know of any banks who have said yes. That is, all offers hav been turned away so far. The problem is that for property management the real estate is only worth what the rents will support. That number can be shocking low.
I also agree that immigrants are sending food (instead of cash) back home. When the supply of something runs out the price reaches infinity. (ie gas after Katrinia)
Fraud...Fraud...Hmmm, what agency is tasked with investigating Wall Street fraud? Oh, I know, the SEC. But wait, Christopher Cox is in charge of the SEC and he hasn't found any crime on Wall Street in the past three years.
Christopher Cox is
A) Corrupt
or
B) The stupidest person in the world
I wouldn't trust Christopher Cox as a meter maid.
Please, if you believe Christopher Cox should be investigated for his inability to perform his duty and his violation of public trust, contact the Office of Inspector General of the SEC.
Came back from some travel last week and much to my surprise, found out we "inherited" a house. Now, we won't get to live in it per se, or rent it out, or for that matter flip it. But it is close - right across the street, with 2700 s/ft, 4 bedrooms and a nice yard; and, we don't have to pay taxes on it. I wanted to thank my neighbor for the inheritance, but he left in the middle of the night so I don't think I'll get the chance.
What we DO get to do is cut a 1/2 acre lawn (which is already 8" high), relocate the cats that were left behind, pick up the flyers/trash that accumulate, and generally keep an eye on it.
I always thought getting an inheritance was a supposed to be a thing to celebrate. Not here in Crapville.
Many were concerned about a run on banks, stocks, muni funds, derivatives. Instead there is a run on food. I am waiting for the next fed fix so I can get some bread.
I too have a vacant house across from me. flipper that flopped.
last winter the people on each side shoveled every time it snowed.
this year the neighborhood is setting up a rotation, so it's not always the same people mowing that lawn. so each week a different house will go there and mow.
I can't imagine living in these ghost developments where nobody lives...
"two retards, oh I mean three retards waiting in the wings to manipulate policies and add a few more nails in The American Experience."
Why don't you give the Democratic nominee an actual chance to win and govern before you start spouting off about how bad they're doing ? Geez, and we wonder why everyone is so cynical about politicians - the conventional wisdom that "they're all the same" is bullshit. They're not all the same, and some actually have the brains and knowledge to run this country well. But, because it "doesn't matter", we continue to elect people like the current occupant of the White House. It's almost like we're happier about proving ourselves right, then actually having a functional government.
None of the recent, (since El Cliffo's chastisement last week,) creative pseudonymery is the work of Anonymous Bosch, though I do find some of them amusing.
OT2: Rice was on sale at the local super earlier this week, and there was plenty of it. I didn't hoard.
Barilla (expensive) pastas were 10boxes/$10. I loaded up with 7 boxes. In meatspace I'm a MacSomeone; consequently too cheap to drop a sawbuck on one item.
It strikes me that lenders have taken to calling any situation where they don't get paid back a "walkaway". 82/100 defaulted on their (second?) mortgages, and he labelled all of them "walkaways".
YtL & Dr. D - I had a house behind me sit vacant for nearly two years before - no maintenance on the swimming pool! I had to tend to that a bit.
When the new owners bought, they cleaned up the pool (well, they hired a service) but didn't actually move in for a few months (nine). I used their pool all summer...I suppose that's somewhat anti-social, but what the heck: I had been taking care of it!
If I were in one of those ghost neighborhoods, I'd be sorely tempted to start using what I was maintaining.
Yes, "amazingly" ACA was granted a forbearance extension until May 30th. I'm sure they'll get things figured out by then. And if not... they will get another extension... and another.
Kind of reminds you of Japan the last 20 years, eh?
OT: the first peak of the new layout goes to the great commenters! Thanks all for your earlier comments. I've fixed the css error and Firefox works now. So here is the new proposed layout
(still a work in progress).
Best to all and thanks for your help!
FIRST.
And, on topic, why is anyone surprised by the fraud?
I represent servicers. 8 or 9 out of every 10 loan that come across my desk are clear fraud. Many are coupled with identity theft, usually of some poor soldier who was probably overseas and never knew he owned, and lost, a house.
Its a conspiracy man. Holy smokes this is getting worse by the day. Could never imagined it would get this bad. Good thing it'll be short and shallow recession.
it is a fairly sharp diminution. However, it has to be because if it is not, you end up with more than 100% of collateral loss, which does not make any sense either.
As nonsensical as it sounds, I can believe that somehow, somewhere, a loan ends up losing over a hundred percent of collateral. I mean, this is America damn it! We don't let little things like that stand in our way.
Tim, from my view in the trenches (which is admittedly narrow, but still...), I'd say the downturn will be about as short as Dikembe Mutombo, and about as shallow as the Grand Canyon.
I noticed Wal Mart and CostCo are already rationing rice. Wheeeee!
SBI clients may lose Rs 7 bn
SBI clients may lose Rs 700 cr
"Inconceivable." "I don't not think that word means what you think it means."
The new layout looks good CR.
Is there anyway to put the post name in the Haloscan comments? When I get home from work I open up all the new posts. It can get confusing on which set of comments I'm on.
If anyone wants details on the Bear Stearns ALT-A 2007-1 pig under discussion, the CIK to look it up on Edgar is 0001385474.
A large portion of these loans are I/O. A big chunk were originated by...drum roll...Countrywide.
CR -
I'm running Firefox on a Mac. Looks good as far as I can tell!
Does anyone get the idea that Countrywide, Bear, Merrill, Lehman common stock has so much debt attached to it that it is basically worthless. They will be paying for losses with stock for years. who continues to hold these stocks? Pension funds?
Well, humph.
I think we are rapidly approaching the moment when Helocs die.
Just wait until credit cards start going blammo.
I am beginning to estimate that I will be safe to stop paying the heloc in about six months.
What are they going to do?
Threaten to repo the house? Yeah sure. If they were smart they would offer zero interest if you agree to an accelerated repayment plan.
Right now. To everybody that has a heloc that is underwater.
First one to do it will get their capital back fastest.
Of course, anything that makes sense will be the last thing the morons in the corner office propose.
The world has changed, and they still think they will get blood out of stones.
Fools.
Someday this war's gonna end...
They will be paying for losses with stock for years. who continues to hold these stocks? Pension funds?
Tim | 04.24.08 - 12:42 am |
Taxpayers will hold the losses.
Dare I say........
"It's Contained"
Looks good!
If mortgages make a poor man poor and a rich man poor, what makes somebody rich? Ask Jas.
Mortgages made poor men rich for a while.
Allen M- I'm thinking of maxing my HELOC and putting it in something safe, like a CD. Then I want to go to the bank and offer to close it out if they cut me a deal on my first. Ruthless borrowing
.
Tim,
There's a super-sharp guy that posts comments over at TickerForum that has put together a brutal YouTube indictment of Lehman. Check it out.
Just wait until credit cards start going blammo.
Do you mean at the individual not paying them back level ('cause I think we're there already - banks just not admitting) or at the level where they can't securitize NEW money coming in & have the securitization equivalent of a bowel obstruction (might be there too).
AllenM,
HELOCs are fine! You just have to classify them as "Level 3" assets.
CR,
Judged independently the new format looks pretty good. I must say, though... every change is a shock to the system. I'm still missing the tree-lined road!
CR: I love the new layout. As to the story, all I can say is "F'in A" "F'in A"
HELOC = Hello Easy Loan Outside Collecting.
someone was talking about the jan 09 leh 20p's. at 1.33!
Cheapcheapcheap!
,Delta and Northwest, seeking to combine to create the world's largest airline, posted losses Wednesday totaling $10.5 billion for the first three months of the year due to exorbitant fuel prices and write-downs of their posted losses Wednesday totaling $10.5 billion for the first three months of the year due to exorbitant fuel prices and write-downs of their companies' value.
who's on the wrong side of that trade?
someone lent to pay the fuel bill.
someone lent to pay the fuel bill.
Oil Equations
That was me. They aren't paying. Time to pull out the tire iron.
To restate my comment from the last Ambac thread, I'm thrilled that they're holding Bear's feet to the fire... now that the Fed has yelled ALL CLEAR to the securitizers, it's the only way we're ever going to get the lid pried off the most fraudulent deals and force some accountability back into the laps of the investment banks.
Clearly, the Fed is too scared of letting IBs "fail" to push them with a review of past regulatory failures. As much as lawyers often seem an un-necessary tax on commerce, in this case, boy do they seem necessary, even vital, to get to some of the truth of what happened here.
Re Delta and Northwest: think of two lonely old coots tying the knot in the nursing home. Sweet, but sad.
Food inflation in the U.K. How different is it here?
Via Tim Iacono
The REAL cost of inflation: The Mail's Cost of Living Index reveals food prices rising at SIX times official figure
I guess the Trout in the milk is more noticeable when it has been dead for a month or two.And gosh those reps and warranties aren't just space filling boilerplate after all,surprise!
Jeff's Moped writes:
"I noticed Wal Mart and CostCo are already rationing rice. Wheeeee!"
I buy a 50lb bag of rice at Costco every few months because my family eat rice everyday.
Last week I noticed one guy with about 15 bags of rice on his pallet and a couple of others with 3 or 4. Two people asked if it was "good rice" when I was loading my single big. Nobody had ever taken much interest in the rice before.
People are so strange. The idea of hording rice in California seems pretty bizarre to me. Rice may get more expensive but it's not going to run out in America. People read about incredibly poor people in africa and asia who are unable to afford rice and suddenly they decide to zoom out in their Mercedes SUV to buy some sacks of rice.
We are entering uncharted territory with premium gas already over $4 a gallon and people stockpiling rice and flour. Looks like the seams of our society are starting to fray.
Rice advanced above $25 for the first time as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club warehouse unit restricted purchases of some types of rice in the U.S.
Yeah, now we have stock-piling of rice, $4 a gallon gas, but....
Inflation expectations are contained!
Bernanke is about as good at economic forecasting (or bullshitting) as was his predecessor!
I'm not clear on how 82/100 walkaways necessarily means the loss of all their collateral. Don't they still have the assets? The houses are still worth something, are they not?
Kis
the house values are hard to pin down though because they are falling by the day. a lot of cases the loan is worth more than the house so you have near 100% losses on some.
kis - they're talking about 2nd liens. In foreclosure, the 1st lien gets paid off first, if anything is left the 2nd lien gets paid.
Question on cc writeoffs: When cc companies finally writeoff an account, usually the balance has been greatly inflated by late fees and punitive rate increases. Are the cc companies allowed to take a deduction against earnings for the whole amount, including the fees? Could this be a reason why the fees are so huge (and getting bigger)?
jus me - ahh, I see.
Anon - that makes no sense. If I've got a $500k loan on a $300k house, I still have some recovery. The 2nd lien thing makes sense though...
Let's say we have 6 or 8 million foreclosures over the next couple of years. Meanwhile the credit crunch continues and the economy spirals into a deep recession.
So what do you think those foreclosed houses are worth to the bank? The value has already dropped 20% or 30% from the purchase price and will probably drop another 20% or 30% over the next couple of years.
How long will the bank have to carry these houses in a market where millions and millions of other houses are for sale? What will they pay in maintenance and repairs? How long will it be before banks start bundling foreclosed houses and selling them to property management companies at fire sale prices?
The onrushing tidal wave of foreclosures will bury most of america's banks, crater the real estate market and probably turn a deep recession into a true depression.
Even the most powerful of nations can only survive so much greed and stupidity.
Binko writes:
Let's say we have 6 or 8 million foreclosures over the next couple of years. Meanwhile the credit crunch continues and the economy spirals into a deep recession.
How deep can a recession go before it should be called a depression?
Somewhat OT & perhaps a dumb question but--isn't it a bit difficult to stockpile rice & flour unless you have lots of refrigerator and/or freezer space? If you eat alot of rice (not that many Americans do), like Binko's family does, I can see buying a 50 lb bag--but for many families--isn't their rice going to end up w/whatever kind of bugs I've seen show up in rice? Ditto for flour, i.e., they'll just end up tossing/wasting the rice/flour?
I understand you can kill the bug eggs in flour by putting it in a freezer for so long (12 hours?), perhaps that works for rice too?
I buy a 25lb bag of bread flour because I make my own bread, but I keep as much of the 25lbs in the refrigerator as I can fit (along with all the other stuff in there) refrigerator & keep thinking that this will be the year I buy a chest freezer so I can keep it in a freezer & buy more stuff in season at the Farmers market & freeze that too. Don't can as much as I used to.
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
Flour..
They say it's a good idea to turn stored bags of flour upside down (180) every so often to keep critters from growing...
Binko, the answer to your question is in the last Calculated Risk newsletter.
Azurite, if you make your own bread on a regular basis you should look into buying a small grain mill and grinding your own flour from whole wheat. Fresh ground whole meal is amazingly nutritious and whole wheat stores very well. I have a german made grain mill called the "Family Grain Mill" and it is a wonderful thing. Standard white flour is nasty stuff. Most of the nutrition was lost when the bran and germ were milled off and once it is ground it starts to oxidize rapidly due to the huge surface area of finely ground flour.
Sorry to get so far off topic. But if the economy continues to tank most of us may end up having to learn a lot more about gardening and food storage than we ever expected.
I stay away for a few days to not look at this stuff and it just gets worse and worse, while meanwhile, we have the worst president in US history in denial and two retards, oh I mean three retards waiting in the wings to manipulate policies and add a few more nails in The American Experience.
This is the dark age, and I for one did not vote for that asshole!
If TSHTF and it comes down to starving or eating buggy rice, I'll eat the buggy rice.
That being said, I have no room in my single bedroom apartment for a rice stockpile. I am considering a small stock of dehydrated food however.
I don't think people are storing rice and flour here in the U.S. I think what you are seeing is immigrants buying rice and flour to send to their relatives in other countries where there is a shortage of such items.
You know... us immigrants have to take care of the family back home.
Binko,
I work in the property management biz, and I know people are already offering banks purchase packages for blocks of REO. I don't know of any banks who have said yes. That is, all offers hav been turned away so far. The problem is that for property management the real estate is only worth what the rents will support. That number can be shocking low.
I also agree that immigrants are sending food (instead of cash) back home. When the supply of something runs out the price reaches infinity. (ie gas after Katrinia)
Immigrants sending flour and rice to their relatives, in Asia?
ER, no. It's an awful lot easier ( and cheaper ) to just send the cash.
Well what about the 19 people who didn't bail out on their HELOC? Why aren't we talking about them? Did you "run a tape" on them?
No you didn't you... you... PermaBear.
Shop managers are saying rice shortage is contained.
Well who trusts managers and CEOs and shop owners in anything these days?
RUN AND GET YOUR RICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's see the fed and treas engineer an end run around this particular breed of accountability.
Unless I'm greatly mistaken, administrative and legislative have just encountered the end of a judicial tether.
Oh. And the element of surprise from Wallis?
I think it means AMBAC did their data drilling only just now. Which would be correct - the work gets done when claims are filed.
Is this getting MSM coverage? Bet it's spoiling many a Wall St breakfast and making for Fed insomnia.
Fraud...Fraud...Hmmm, what agency is tasked with investigating Wall Street fraud? Oh, I know, the SEC. But wait, Christopher Cox is in charge of the SEC and he hasn't found any crime on Wall Street in the past three years.
Christopher Cox is
A) Corrupt
or
B) The stupidest person in the world
I wouldn't trust Christopher Cox as a meter maid.
Please, if you believe Christopher Cox should be investigated for his inability to perform his duty and his violation of public trust, contact the Office of Inspector General of the SEC.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Home Page)
Came back from some travel last week and much to my surprise, found out we "inherited" a house. Now, we won't get to live in it per se, or rent it out, or for that matter flip it. But it is close - right across the street, with 2700 s/ft, 4 bedrooms and a nice yard; and, we don't have to pay taxes on it. I wanted to thank my neighbor for the inheritance, but he left in the middle of the night so I don't think I'll get the chance.
What we DO get to do is cut a 1/2 acre lawn (which is already 8" high), relocate the cats that were left behind, pick up the flyers/trash that accumulate, and generally keep an eye on it.
I always thought getting an inheritance was a supposed to be a thing to celebrate. Not here in Crapville.
dd
Did anyone ask if the CFO and CRO still collecting their paychecks?
Two more incompetents.
ABK will go the way of ACA.. check out their website.. it's gone, vaporized, nothing there but a logo.
ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation
They had until last night at 6 to reauthorize their Forbearance agreement. Did they do it? No one knows.
Many were concerned about a run on banks, stocks, muni funds, derivatives. Instead there is a run on food. I am waiting for the next fed fix so I can get some bread.
Good grief. Peak Oil, Peak Food and now we have Peak Walkaways.
Ambac is basically in the position of the night watchman saying: "See, here's the gate that somebody left open that let the horse get out!"
Detective work doesn't absolve the watchman... he had a job, too.
CR - the new layout renders ok. The blue title bar with the blog name is sort of lost, though. Can we have the wooded picture back?
dr digits:
I too have a vacant house across from me. flipper that flopped.
last winter the people on each side shoveled every time it snowed.
this year the neighborhood is setting up a rotation, so it's not always the same people mowing that lawn. so each week a different house will go there and mow.
I can't imagine living in these ghost developments where nobody lives...
"two retards, oh I mean three retards waiting in the wings to manipulate policies and add a few more nails in The American Experience."
Why don't you give the Democratic nominee an actual chance to win and govern before you start spouting off about how bad they're doing ? Geez, and we wonder why everyone is so cynical about politicians - the conventional wisdom that "they're all the same" is bullshit. They're not all the same, and some actually have the brains and knowledge to run this country well. But, because it "doesn't matter", we continue to elect people like the current occupant of the White House. It's almost like we're happier about proving ourselves right, then actually having a functional government.
scary presentation. Fitch has them $4b short. Ambac uses deterioration assumptions from the late 90's which seems a little cheery and charitable.
OT:
To: My fellow CR denizens.
None of the recent, (since El Cliffo's chastisement last week,) creative pseudonymery is the work of Anonymous Bosch, though I do find some of them amusing.
OT2: Rice was on sale at the local super earlier this week, and there was plenty of it. I didn't hoard.
Barilla (expensive) pastas were 10boxes/$10. I loaded up with 7 boxes. In meatspace I'm a MacSomeone; consequently too cheap to drop a sawbuck on one item.
It strikes me that lenders have taken to calling any situation where they don't get paid back a "walkaway". 82/100 defaulted on their (second?) mortgages, and he labelled all of them "walkaways".
YtL & Dr. D - I had a house behind me sit vacant for nearly two years before - no maintenance on the swimming pool! I had to tend to that a bit.
When the new owners bought, they cleaned up the pool (well, they hired a service) but didn't actually move in for a few months (nine). I used their pool all summer...I suppose that's somewhat anti-social, but what the heck: I had been taking care of it!
If I were in one of those ghost neighborhoods, I'd be sorely tempted to start using what I was maintaining.
Yes, "amazingly" ACA was granted a forbearance extension until May 30th. I'm sure they'll get things figured out by then. And if not... they will get another extension... and another.
Kind of reminds you of Japan the last 20 years, eh?
CR & Tanta-
Walking away is walking away...see no evil?
I guess this does not fit the definition.
Anonymous Bosch:
You think I chastised somebody? Moi?
You clearly have me confused with some other commenter.
tranches of like writes:
"Re Delta and Northwest: think of two lonely old coots tying the knot in the nursing home. Sweet, but sad."
My vision is more like two dinosaurs getting it on in the tar pit.
ER, no. It's an awful lot easier ( and cheaper ) to just send the cash.
Metro Filipinos ship rice to families back home
Gift packages from Canadian residents ease shortages in homeland
Metro Filipinos ship rice to families back home